West Lauderdale coach Jason Smith led the Knights to a 28-5 record and a 10-0 record in 5-4A play.

Jason Smith not only had to replace a long-time head coach who retired — he had to replace a baseball legend in Mississippi high school coaching.

In his inaugural season at West Lauderdale, Smith led the Knights to a 28-5 record, 10-0 in Region 5-4A, and a berth in the MHSAA Class 4A South State title series. He did so on the heels of former head coach Jerry Boatner, who won 14 state championships and 1,202 games as the Knights’ coach for 45 seasons before retiring following the 2018 campaign.

Because of his strong season in light of following Boatner, Smith has been named the Premier Preps Baseball Coach of the Year.

“It’s a great honor,” Smith said. “We had a really good season. I’m proud of all the players and the season we had.”

Following in Boatner’s footsteps wasn’t easy, but Smith had the advantage of working for him as an assistant coach for more than a decade before taking the reins in Collinsville. 

“There was definitely some added pressure replacing him, but we have a great relationship and still keep in touch,” Smith said. “Not much has changed as far as the fundamentals or how we organize practice. The main difference was that I had to coach within my own personality and not try to be him, but I am grateful for the 13 years I spent under him.”

Smith said Boatner’s ability to teach fundamentals, in particular, is something that stood out about him when Smith was Boatner’s assistant coach.

“He’s a great teacher of fundamentals and continually studies the game of baseball, and he always shared that information with me,” Smith said. “Probably the most important thing for my baseball career was him teaching me to coach every position in detail.”

Expectations were high coming into the 2019 season, as the pitching staff was headlined by Jones College signee Kameron Partridge and Southern Mississippi signee Ben Ethridge, both of whom pitched to sub-1 earned-run averages. 

“We knew going in pitching would be a strength and that we would be good defensively,” Smith said. “Offensively, we had some holes to fill, but we had some people step up, and I was pleased with the offensive production.”

Smith also credited his assistants — Jody Hurst, Austin Buchanan and Jamie Brown — for their role in helping prepare the Knights each game.

“I thought we had a tremendous coaching staff, and I’m really thankful for the job each one did,” Smith said. “We had great senior leadership from our four seniors (Ethridge, Partridge, Austin Davidson and Brandon Andreacchio), and that made a huge difference in our success.”

Next season, the Knights lose the production of Ethridge and Partridge, and Smith said they lose more than just two good pitchers to graduation.

“Those two are extremely special to me,” Smith said. “I’ve spent six years with those guys in the program, since I worked with pitchers most of the time. The contributions and success they’ve had in high school has been tremendous, and they’re great kids who do things the right way. Any time they were on the mound, we had a great chance to win every game.”

Replacing two key pitchers and infielders in Davidson and Andreacchio won’t be easy, Smith said.

“Next year we definitely have to have some pitchers step up,” Smith said. “Offensively, I hope we continue to improve. We have some young players who got some experience this year, and we move to the North (in Class 4A) next year, so that’s a new challenge.”