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To say a pitcher was unhittable can be hyperbolic, but more times than not, that was accurate for Hagen Smith in 2021.
As a senior at Bullard High in Texas, the left-hander threw seven no-hitters, tying a Texas high school baseball record, and had another four one-hitters while allowing just two runs in 12 appearances.
“I felt really good this year,” Smith told HawgBeat. “I was really confident this year, that was basically my main thing that helped me in my game, I think.”
The numbers Smith put up in this season don’t even look real. He went 11-0 with a minuscule 0.19 ERA and 0.45 WHIP and also had a whopping 168 strikeouts in 73 innings, asserting himself as one of the top prep pitchers in the country.
Much like Dave Van Horn with Kevin Kopps, Bullard head coach Robert Ellis could relax when Smith was on the mound for the Panthers.
“I didn’t even really have to pay attention, to be honest,” Ellis said. “There was never a game or a situation that he was not in complete control of.”
Ellis isn’t your average high school baseball coach, either. He was a third-round pick out of Northwestern State in 1990 and played professionally for 15 years, including parts of four seasons in the big leagues. In 2001, he pitched alongside Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling, helping the Diamondbacks win the World Series.
Since retiring in 2005, Ellis has held various positions across all levels of the sport. Most recently, he was with the Dodgers last year before deciding to stay closer to home and coach the local high school team, Bullard High.
Over that time, Ellis has worked with the likes of former big leaguer Philip Humber, current big leaguers Josh Tomlin and A.J. Minter, and top prospects Bryce Elder and Grayson Rodriguez. The latter of the group, Rodriguez was the 11th overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft and is currently the top pitching prospect in the Orioles organization.
“Hagen Smith is better than (Rodriguez),” Ellis said. “I coached them both. I will stand behind it. If I had not coached them both, I couldn’t say that, but having coached both of them, they both exhibit a lot of the same qualities. The only separator for me is Hagen’s a better athlete. He’s a better mover.”
