A-K Valley Senior Spotlight: Freeport’s Jack Smetak

By: Abby King
Monday, April 24, 2023 | 10:57 AM

A few weeks into baseball season, a lot of teams are still adjusting to facing different teams and shuffling positions around to find the right fit.

For Freeport, the team is ready to face adversity head on and compete for the section title. Among the talented players on the roster is senior Jack Smetak.

“I think improvement will come as the season goes on,” Smetak said. “We have to improve on staying consistent when facing adversity.”

Jack is the son of Erin and Kevin Smetak. Along with baseball, he is a member of the football team and plays travel baseball for Hardcore Elite Baseball. He’s been playing baseball since he was 6.

“Baseball has just always been my favorite sport to play,” Smetak said.

Smetak took some time out of his busy schedule to sit down and answer some questions for a Senior Spotlight Q&A:

You lost your freshman season because of the covid-19 pandemic and the team underwent a rough patch trying to rebuild from losing so many seniors. Tell me a little bit about the rough road to success.

A lot of experience was lost as a team, and we had to restart as a program. It was extremely hard to be patient. We had a lot of kids start playing varsity without playing junior varsity first, and that led to a lot of freshmen and sophomores being thrown in. It has been a long wait to get where we are now.

You bat as the clean-up hitter. Tell me a little bit about that role.

My job is to just get RBIs over everything. Compared to everyone else wanting to get home runs and make other big moves, I want to get on base and move the guys around.

Many professional baseball players use data and analytics to improve their hitting. What is your opinion on that, and what things do you focus on when working on your swing?

I think analytics are important but not everything. I used data and analytics a lot throughout the winter. When I condition, I work on having a tight bat path and keeping my head down on the ball.

First basemen and third basemen are critical when it comes to the bunting aspect of the game. For you, what is your biggest worry when it comes to bunting?

I think my biggest worry is throwing the ball away and turning what should be an out into a double or a triple.

You are committed to play at Notre Dame College in the fall. Tell me a little bit about the recruiting process and what you were looking for in a potential school.

I waited until the summer to start my process as I wasn’t as good as I am now. It wasn’t too hard for me. My theory is that if you are good enough, people will find you. Twitter was the biggest hand in helping me. I was looking for a competitive team, and the location didn’t matter to me. Also, I wanted a school that had a good finance program.

What do you hope will come out of collegiate baseball, and what did you like about Notre Dame the most?

I hope that collegiate baseball will lead me to the pros. I personally liked the coaches, the field, as it was a good one, and the highest Division II pick in the draft came from Notre Dame.

Do you have a walkup song?

I don’t, but if I did, it would be “Gold Digger” by Kanye West.

What is one piece of advice you’d like to leave with your teammates?

Fall and winter conditioning will determine how great you are in the spring. You can’t wait until March to be great.

Tags: Freeport