Impact’s Cole Smith Commits to Lake Region State College
MISSOULA - Cole Smith has announced his commitment to Lake Region State College on a baseball scholarship.
Smith, a two-year starter for the Missoula Impact Baseball Club, joins a Lake Region State College program that is headed in an exciting new direction under the leadership of Laurence Arango, first-year Head Baseball Coach. Arango has experience as an associate scout in the Arizona Diamondbacks system. Smith was the Royals’ first Class of 2024 commit.
Lake Region State College is a National Junior College Athletic Association Division II school in Devils Lake, North Dakota that competes in the Mon-Dak Athletic Conference. Lake Region has a good track record of sending players on to four-year college baseball programs.
Smith was named by the Impact coaches as 2022 Offensive Player of the Year after a strong sophomore season when he hit .373 with only five strikeouts in over 140 plate appearances. Smith was the leading hitter last fall on the Northwest Montana team that won the Spokane High School Fall Ball Championship for the second consecutive fall season. Under the tutelage of Colton Little, new Impact Director of Baseball Operations, and Ryan Roche, Manager, Smith is poised to take another step forward this season in his senior year. The sweet-swinging left-handed hitter was recruited by Lake Region as an outfielder and middle infielder.
“Cole is a fantastic hitter and a versatile defender who can play both in the infield and outfield,” said Coach Arango in the Lake Region State College Baseball media announcement. “We welcome Cole to our Royals baseball family.”
Smith is the second college commit from the 2023 Impact Baseball squad. Brennan Labbe, a power hitting and pitching standout during a two-year stint for Impact, committed last fall to Centralia College, a top tier baseball program in the prestigious Northwest Athletic Conference. The new Impact coaching staff is highly focused on helping kids play at the next level in college and expects to be developing a string of college commits in future years.
“Cole will do really good things at the next level,” said Little. “But this is just the start for Impact. Our goal is have many more ready to play at the next level as we move into the future.”
Impact Baseball is holding tryouts for its 2024 18U team on Wednesday, January 24, 6:00-7:00 pm and Thursday, January 25, 8:00-9:00 pm at the Lady Griz softball facility.