The Prep Baseball Report announced its rankings for the Class of 2027, with Reeltown’s JaMarkius Smith named the No. 2 player in the state and the No. 1 pitcher.
Smith put the country on notice last year as just a freshman with his ridiculous arm talent. In his freshman season, he allowed only 21 hits compared to 110 strikeouts. He reached a ridiculous max velocity of 93 mph on his fastball. He further proved his impact by having 44 hits, second on the team behind former Reeltown baseball player Hagan Lewis.
“Well, he brings a 93-94 mile an hour fastball, a really good off-speed pitch and a nasty slider,” Reeltown baseball coach Matt Johnson said. Just his presence, I mean his talent speaks for itself, as he's got his name out there. Everybody knows who he is, and he's just a phenomenal, talented player, especially on the mound. He does have an extremely powerful fastball and two more pitches to follow that.”
Smith played an integral part in what Reeltown was able to accomplish last year, not only snatching the area title but also reaching the second round of the Class 2A playoffs.
“We faced some really good pitching last year, but we didn't face anybody like him,” Johnson said. “I'm glad he's on our team. It's one of those things where it's hard to prepare for. You just don't see many guys like that in high school anywhere, regardless of the level, but especially in 2A. He kept us in a lot of games and, I mean, he's just been a phenomenal player.”
Now, the preparation is a tad bit different for Smith as he switches his arm conditioning from football to baseball. However, teams across the country have their eye on the phenom pitcher.
“He's got a camp next weekend at the University of Alabama,” Johnson said. “He'll be busy with that side of things as well because word is out and everybody wants to take a look at him.”
Heading into his sophomore year, Johnson expects much of the same from Smith on the mound but now looks for him to step up in a leadership role for the squad.
“Coming off of a freshman year, a starter on a team that went to the quarterfinals, we want him to be able to take more of a leadership role and continue to work on his craft and arm care,” Johnson said. “Toward the end of the season last year, I was getting a little concerned about his arm care, which was nothing major, but we want to take care of that arm and keep it in good shape and have him rolling at the right time.”
It is safe to say expect Smith’s game to jump even higher as he heads into his sophomore year as one of the best pitchers in the state of Alabama.