Smith Puts His Name on 5-4 Win

Jeffrey Robert Smith is trying to remedy a lifelong identity problem. His name, it seems, doesn’t exactly lend itself to the tips of tongues or to top-of-the-page headlines.

“I have to believe that he’s one of the most underrated players in the Valley,” Montclair Prep Coach Jeff Pressman said of his diminutive leadoff hitter and relief specialist. “He’s small and he doesn’t have great speed, but he’s one of the toughest outs we’ve ever had here. He has a live arm and three good pitches, but nobody really knows who he is.”

That’s nothing new for Smith. When he was 9, in an attempt to clarify a confusing situation, Jeff Smith became J.R. Smith.

“When I was in Little League, we had three guys named Jeff Smith on the same team,” he explained. “Whenever somebody yelled, ‘Hey Jeff,’ half the team looked.

“And my dad was the coach.”

While this Smith may never become a household word in, say, Dallas, slowly but surely, teams in the Alpha League are beginning to get the word.

Get J.R.

Smith (2-0) knocked in the winning run with a two-out double in the eighth inning and pitched three innings of scoreless relief to earn the victory as Montclair Prep defeated Maranatha, 5-4, in a game for first place in the Alpha League at Encino Colt Field on Friday.

Montclair Prep, which is ranked No. 1 in the Southern Section Small Schools Division and has won every Alpha League title since the league was formed in 1982, is 11-1 and 6-0 in league. Maranatha (8-3, 4-2) is two games behind the first-place Mounties.

Maranatha gave Montclair Prep more than enough to handle. Without what’s-his-name in the Montclair Prep lineup, Maranatha probably would be sharing first place right about now.

“One pitch better, that’s about all they are,” Maranatha Coach Dean Spoelstra said. “One pitch, and not much more that that.”

It was Maranatha starter Perry Danne’s 101st pitch, to be exact, that delineated the difference Friday. With two out in the bottom of the eighth and the score tied at 4, Smith ripped Danne’s first pitch off the top of the left-field fence. Craig Handschu, who had singled to open the inning, scored all the way from first.

“He had been throwing me curveballs in the dirt all game,” said Smith, who was 3 for 4 with two doubles. “I just decided to lay off that stuff and look for a fastball, something I could hit. Hard.”

Montclair Prep appeared on its way to an easy win, scoring two runs in the first and another in the fourth to take a 3-0 lead. But starter Scott Hauser, who had allowed one hit over the first four innings, surrendered two runs in the fifth when the Montclair Prep defense committed three errors.

Maranatha took a 4-3 lead in the sixth. Hauser allowed a walk and a single to open the inning, bringing on Smith, who started at shortstop. Smith walked Jeff Kliewer to load the bases then struck out Rich Morrison. Rick Herlacher knocked in a run with a grounder to short to tie the score, and John Inouye gave Maranatha the lead with an RBI single to deep short.

Montclair Prep tied the game in the bottom of the inning when Danne had control problems, walking Jeff Light, Nate Hill, Handschu and Hauser to force in a run.