Hunter Smith, seen here last season, broke his hand Sunday, ending his freshman college baseball season early. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
He’s out of the lineup, eight games too soon.
Coupeville High School grad Hunter Smith had his freshman college baseball season end prematurely Sunday when he suffered a broken hand thanks to a wayward pitch.
Smith, who is playing with older brother CJ for the Green River College squad, had started 25 of his team’s 28 games this season and was among the team stat leaders in several categories.
Hunter topped the team in walks with 14 (he was also plunked three times, counting his final, unfortunate brush with the ball) and was third in runs (11) and fifth in hits (14).
He had a double and triple and four RBI, while also picking up 45 putouts and 52 assists while playing middle of the infield defense for the Gators.
CJ has spent his first season of college ball as Green River’s primary relief pitcher, going 0-1 with a save across 10 appearances.
The elder Smith is second among the team’s pitchers in appearances, just trailing by one game, and has recorded nine strikeouts in 22.1 innings of work.
Green River, which sits at 4-24 during a major rebuilding season, has four-game stands left against Centralia and Lower Columbia.
While in high school, the Smith brothers led Coupeville baseball back to the promised land.
CJ was the senior pitching ace, and Hunter a slugging sophomore shortstop, in 2016 when the Wolves won their first hardball league crown in 25 years.
Two years later, Hunter, a two-time CHS Male Athlete of the Year, led Coupeville to another Olympic League title, this time in the role CJ played the first time around.
The two brothers reunited this spring as Green River freshmen, winning spots on the baseball team after tryouts.
Coupeville Sports 