On Tuesday, West Virginia baseball's Class of 2025 signee Weston Smith earned one more accolade to honor an incredible senior high school season as he was named West Virginia Gatorade Player of the Year. Smith plays for Hurricane High School in Hurricane, West Virginia, and has helped lead his team to the West Virginia Class AAAA Semifinals, which start this Friday.
Smith boasts a perfect 10-0 record on the mound this season, recording a 1.17 ERA with 88 strikeouts in 59.2 innings pitched. Smith is a great hurler on the mound, but his production does not stop there. In high school baseball, many talented players contribute by both pitching and hitting, and Smith was able to contribute a ton on both sides of the game. Offensively, Smith had a .371 batting average with three home runs, 35 RBIs, and accumulated a 1.033 OPS for 2025.
WVU signee Weston Smith has been named "Gatorade Player of the Year" in West Virginia. Pitches for Hurricane who advanced to the Class AAAA semifinals which starts Friday. @WestonSmith123 @WVUBaseball @BlueGoldNews https://t.co/Ay2gTWmfsx pic.twitter.com/JoC35YfeSc
— Jeff Cobb (@Jeffery_Cobb) June 4, 2025
The right-hander also has a fastball that sits in the 90-91 miles per hour range and can top out at 94 miles per hour. Smith also has a slider, curveball, and changeup in his arsenal. The program hopes
he will bring some solid innings to a 2026 WVU team that will be searching for answers on the mound, with several players set to graduate and a shallow bullpen having caused issues this past year.
Another pitcher currently on the WVU baseball roster won the same award as Smith just a year ago -- Bryant Yoak was the recipient in 2024, and proceeded to make 13 appearances for the Mountaineers this season. He tossed 13 strikeouts in 5.1 innings pitched, but also ended the season with an extremely high 15.19 ERA on the season. The Big Bend, West Virginia, native has not seen the mound since May 6.