Jordan Smith, star varsity player on the Oakland Tech baseball team, started his baseball journey at the age of 4 and joined his first team at 6 years old. Jordan was inspired to start playing by his cousin, whose games he would watch as a child.
Now, in his last high school season, Jordan is a very flexible player: you can find him playing any position on the diamond, although his favorite is center field. One of his biggest achievements was beating Skyline High School in the OAL Championships last year. After losing to Skyline three years in a row, this was an exciting moment for the Tech baseball team.
This year, Jordan is thrilled for the upcoming season and believes the team can both win against Skyline again and go on to compete in states. He hopes that they are able to stay committed and consistent. Described as an uplifting figure by his teammates, Jordan sticks to the mantra, “There’s no I in team.” Before games, he enjoys listening to music, getting in the zone with a mix of R&B, rap, and country tunes.
As a student athlete, Jordan recognizes the importance of a school-life balance. He is very aware of his responsibility as a student and when swamped with work, he tells himself to take care of business. “I tell myself that if I want to be great, and make it, I gotta take care of the stuff in the classroom. Baseball comes second,” he said.
One of Jordan’s biggest challenges was losing his mother last year. “It was really hard,” he said, “I wanted to quit baseball and I was super depressed, but I overcame it, showed up for my team, stayed in school, and finished the year strong.” He is motivated to continue his baseball career by his mom, teammates, family, and friends, and intends to show up and do whatever it takes to get better as a player.
Over the years, baseball has become an important, even defining, part of Jordan’s life. He is often referred to as “Jordan who plays baseball.” In the future, Jordan plans to continue playing baseball. He has committed to Cañada College as a Kinesiology major, where he intends to play for two years and hopefully get a D1 scholarship to finish his education. After that, he sees himself becoming a coach and teaching the next generation of baseball players.