Baseball standout chooses Riverside

Tyler Takeda/The Madera Tribune

Liberty baseball standout McGuire Smith signs his National Letter of Intent with his parents watching at a Liberty High School signing day in May. 

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After re-writing the Liberty Hawks’ baseball record books and leading the Hawks to back-to-back Div. IV Central Section championships, McGuire Smith hopes to have the same success at UC Riverside after signing his National Letter of Intent. 

UC Riverside was the only Div. 1 school to give Smith an offer. Although he did get some talks from Willamette in Oregon. 

“The plan was to go to Div. 1 or to go to a junior college for two years and then go to a Div. 1,” Smith said. “They contacted me during a game in Oakmont. One of their pitchers closed the game and I got a double off of them. They followed me around and talked to my coach. When I was playing for NorCal, they went to some of the events, and watched me. When I was in an Irvine tournament, they invited me to an official visit and offered me.”