Kevan Smith began his first season of professional baseball by pummeling Appalachian League pitchers as a member of the Bristol White Sox.
He ended it by hoisting a championship trophy.
Smith was one of 12 former BriSox players that helped the Great Falls (Mont.) Voyagers win a title in the short-season advanced Pioneer League.
Great Falls clinched the championship on Sept. 15 with a 7-1 victory over the Ogden Raptors. Smith went 3-for-4 in the deciding game, a fitting finish to an unforgettable season.
Smith hit .478 in the postseason and sparked the Voyagers’ offense.
“I think he had two games in the playoffs where he was a triple away from the cycle,” Great Falls manager Ryan Newman said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “He’s still a little bit of a raw talent, but he’s got all kinds of ability.”
A former star at the University of Pittsburgh, Smith began the season with the BriSox and hit .396 with seven home runs and 32 RBIs. He was leading the Appy League in hitting when promoted to Great Falls on July 25.
He initially struggled with his new club.
“Kevan had a tremendous amount of success in Bristol,” Newman said. “Just about the halfway point we got him. I think he came to Great Falls and tried to fit in and do a little too much at the beginning. He was trying to carry the team right off the bat. Once he got settled down, he carried us down the stretch – the final three weeks of the season – and into the playoffs.”
Smith finished the regular season with a .318 batting average and 16 RBIs. First baseman Michael Schwartz, who began the season in Bristol and joined Smith later in Great Falls, was impressed with the way his roommate swung the bat.
“He was hitting better than he was in Bristol,” Schwartz said. “He was on fire the last few weeks.”
Martin Medina, who appeared in 17 games with Bristol in 2011, also keyed the title run. He hit .474 in the playoffs, including blasting two home runs in Game 1 of the Pioneer League Championship Series.
The clutch performances of Smith and Medina translated into a title for Great Falls.
“It was unbelievable,” Schwartz said. “I never had a championship in baseball at any level besides Little League. It was great to finally get one.”
Newman feels the same way.
The 32-year-old skipper had never won a championship in his three seasons as a player in the Pittsburgh Pirates minor league system or in his first three seasons as a manger.
He had spent the 2009 and 2010 seasons as Bristol’s manager, going 59-75 during his time calling the shots for the Sox. However, it all came together this season for the energetic Newman.
His team overcame a 17-21 start.
“It was exciting,” Newman said. “These guys really worked their tails off this year. We started out slow. … After that first half [of the season] we had a talk and I really kind of told them that people remember how you finish, not how you start. They took that to heart. We really got rolling at the right time.”
thayes@bristolnews.com | Twitter:@Hayes_BHCSports | (276) 645-2570
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