AUBURN — Edward Little senior Drew Smith knew he wanted to play Division I baseball since he started T-ball at four years old. On Thursday, his dreams became a reality when he signed his National Letter of Intent to play baseball at the University of Connecticut during a ceremony in the Edward Little High School library.

“It’s a dream come true,” Smith said. “But, back to work tomorrow and on with the next dream.”

He officially accepted UConn’s offer in July 2022, while also navigating the Major League Baseball draft process. Smith said he decided to prioritize getting an education and hopes a professional career can be an option after college graduation.

Smith’s father, Ryan Smith, played at the University of Maine, and was fundamental in helping Drew navigate his prospective college career.

“I’ve always had the dream of playing D1, and then the summer after my freshman year of high school, it kind of became real when I received the first offer,” Drew Smith said. “It was pretty incredible.”

Smith pointed out that he didn’t receive many official offers — “schools don’t offer you unless you tell them that you want the offer right now, they say ‘We’ll give you an offer when you’re ready,'” he said — and that he committed to UConn “really early.”

The 6-foot-3, 215-pound senior has been a contributor for Edward Little since his freshman season, when he came on strong toward the end of that first campaign.

He struck out 14 batters in 18 2/3 innings in 2021, then broke out with 67 punchouts in 42 frames while sporting a 3.66 earned-run average and 4-2 record in 2022. Last year, he lowered his ERA to 2.97 to go along with 68 strikeouts in 44 2/3 innings.

For the Red Eddies, he’s a top pitcher, but also plays first base, third base and right field. At UConn, he said he expects to compete for a spot, but foresees starting as a relief pitcher.

“Wherever I fit best and wherever they need me, I’m a big do-it-for-the-team (guy), but I’ll just work as hard as I can to compete every day,” Smith said.

Edward Little Athletic Director Todd Sampson noted how successful Smith has been in his high school career so far, and said the most impressive quality has been how humble he is, especially when signing to such a competitive Division-I program.

“Drew’s worked extremely hard,” Sampson said. “His dedication and his mental toughness to stay with it, and one of the things I really admire about Drew is both his ability to play other sports (football and hockey) while he’s been able to excel in baseball, but also how humble he is. He doesn’t walk around this building telling everybody how great he is, he lets that come out on the baseball field.”

Red Eddies coach Dave Jordan credits Smith’s parents, Tanya and Ryan, for supporting Drew to keep pursuing baseball, but also while coaching him through the youth levels.

“(Drew) just really caught fire in terms of his passion for the game and realizing there were some things that he had to do to kind of maximize his potential,” Jordan said. “So many players, you don’t see that, they don’t have that consistency and grind to do that.”

Jordan called Smith an “exceptional” and “off-the-charts player” for the Red Eddies, in terms of his work ethic and focus to the game. He also said Smith is the “hardest-working baseball player” that he’s coached since he came to Edward Little in 2015.

“He’s a super teammate, his friends love to have him around and he is supportive,” Jordan said. “He just leads by example.”

If Jordan had to use one word to describe Smith, it would be relentless.

Sampson also noted how impressive the UConn commitment is for Smith, as the Huskies’ competitive program is usually battling to make it to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, every year.

“Yes, it’s a Division-I scholarship, but it’s a Division-I scholarship to one of the best programs in the country,” Sampson said. “They’re always fighting for conference championships, always coming down to the last pitch whether or not they’re going to make it to Omaha, to the College World Series. So, I know how proud I am of Drew, and I can’t imagine how proud his family is.”

Going into his senior season, Smith said he wants to get back to the Class A state championship, like the team did last year, beating Bangor 10-6 to win the Class A North championship. The Red Eddies fell one win short of the program’s first state championship since 1992 in a 5-0 loss to South Portland in the Class A final.

“This year, main goal is to make it back to the state championship and take what’s ours,” Smith said. “But really, to just help have fun with my teammates and help them get better. They’re going to help me get better and have a great season and compete.”

Smith has played with many of his Red Eddies teammates since he was young, and he said that’s what he’ll miss when he heads to the next level in Storrs, Connecticut.

“In high school, you’re with your best friends that you grew up with and you’re playing baseball, but when you get to college you meet new people,” Smith said. “I’ve been playing baseball with a lot of these kids for a long time in every sport that I’ve done, so it’s been fun.”

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