Smith's MLB dream gets one step closer with invite to Area Code Baseball Underclass Games

Every young boy can dream of being a professional baseball player. The reality of fulfilling that vision is quite difficult.

Shelbyville High School junior Aiden Smith moved one step closer to his goal earlier this month when he dazzled professional scouts and college coaches at the 2024 Area Code Baseball Underclass Games in Long Beach, California.

The 38^th edition of the invite-only event allowed Smith to showcase his talent as one of Indiana’s top prep pitchers.

“I would say it was easily my favorite baseball experience ever,” said Smith. “All the guys there were super friendly and super cool. You get to play at a super nice facility in front of all kinds of college scouts and pro scouts.”

Smith’s college recruiting window officially opened Aug. 1 while he was in California. His reputation already solidified in the world of travel baseball, Smith had a whirlwind couple of days fielding texts and taking phone calls ahead of his appearance in the Area Code Games.

“Right now, I am trying to narrow it down to about four or five schools that I want to visit,” he said. “I have Kentucky and Ole Miss lined up right now. I am working on Vanderbilt and Duke for my next two.”

Ranked as the No. 3 prospect in the Class of 2026 in Indiana by Prep Baseball Report, he would like to be committed before the end of the year.

“I don’t really have a deadline, sometime in the next few months,” he said. “I was hoping in November which is when I start up with some baseball stuff again. I would like to be in baseball mode when the time comes.”

Whether he actually steps foot on a college campus as a freshman will be determined by Major League Baseball. Smith is on track to be drafted following his senior year as a Golden Bear. That’s when a major life decision will have to be made.

“Obviously my goal is I would love to get drafted out of high school and get a good (signing) bonus and get on a good path,” said Smith. “If I am (selected) later (in the draft) and the money is not there or the development there or the program is not quite there, I would love to go to college and take a couple of extra years to develop and get better from there and a few years later get drafted again.”

The Area Code Games were run by scouts from eight different MLB teams. Smith was assigned to the Chicago White Sox.

“There were numerous pro scouts for every major league team there,” said Smith. “They would stand out in the dugouts with us and there were a couple guys in the bullpen so no matter where you were you were surrounded by different pro scouts from all over.”

What scouts see is a long, lanky frame from a right-handed pitcher that tops 90 miles per hour with his fastball and has good control and movement with his slider and curveball.

Smith was an All-Hoosier Heritage Conference selection following his sophomore season at Shelbyville in which he was 4-3 on the mound with an earned run average of 1.87 and a single-season program record 82 strikeouts. He also hit .346 for a Golden Bears squad that finished 16-9 and lost to Franklin, 6-3, in the sectional championship game.

With his second high school season complete, Smith joined his Indiana Bulls Black team and continued to shine. The highlight of the summer prior to his California excursion was helping the Bulls win the Prep Baseball Report National Championship.

After some family vacation time in southern California, Smith reported to Long Beach to have his pitching scrutinized.

“Everybody got 2-3 innings – starters got three innings,” said Smith. “I pitched in relief the first day, so I got two innings. I showed a little bit of everything. It was a really good outing. I threw five (different) pitches. I was 88-91 (miles per hour) and I threw a lot of strikes and got a lot of good comments.”

After five-plus months of baseball, Smith now has the baseball equipment shelved to focus on the Golden Bears tennis season. In 2023, Smith and Karson Schaf became the first boys tennis doubles team to reach the state finals. Now that Schaf has graduated, Smith is playing No. 1 doubles this season with Wyatt Armstrong.

“I like (tennis) to get away from baseball for a little bit,” he said. “I use it as an escape. I have fun with it. I like to win, obviously, and I will go out there and compete every game.”

Now 17 years old, Smith is a long way from his earliest days playing on the local diamonds. The MLB dream was real but the path to get there was unclear.

“I never really knew how it would all fold out,” he said. “I just thought it would magically happen and I would be in MLB. Now, going through the process and getting to where I am now and getting ready to find a college I want to go to, it has been an unbelievable process.”

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