With the COVID-19 outbreak forcing the cancelation of all high school spring sports, local high seniors were forced to deal with the abrupt reality that their prep careers were over. A group of these student-athletes were members of the Cincinnati Reds RBI program, many of whom were also regulars at the P&G MLB Cincinnati Reds Youth Academy over the years. With our Senior Spotlight Series, the Reds want to recognize these players for their efforts and wish them well in their future endeavors, both on and off the field.

Lockland High School senior Diamond Smith has done what many have had difficulty doing: taken the end of her softball career in stride.

• Cincinnati Reds Youth Academy

Smith became a regular at the Reds Youth Academy about seven years ago and later joined Reds RBI for four seasons. At the start of her time at the Academy, Smith was already playing for a softball team but wanted to compete at a higher level, so she made the transition to RBI. She enjoyed the quickness of the game and how it often turned into a mental competition in which you had to out-think your opponent.

“I enjoyed seeing my progress throughout the years. I went from not knowing how to throw or hit a ball to being one of the top players on my team. The time was well spent, although it did go by pretty quick.”

Steve Burger, head coach of the 18U Cincinnati RBI team, coached Smith for the past two years.

“Diamond was selected to be part of the team that played in the Jenny Finch Classic [during MLB All-Star week] in Cleveland last year,” he said. “She is a player that has a lot of enthusiasm and that enthusiasm is contagious and spreads among her teammates. I really enjoyed seeing the huge smile on her face when getting a hit or striking out a batter with one of her nasty changeups. Diamond was very instrumental in our success, especially late in the season.”

When everything was canceled this spring, Smith was certainly disappointed to hear the news but didn’t harp on the negative. She brings a perspective to the matter that is refreshing and incredibly grounded.

“I found out about it from teammates who were devastated, but it really wasn’t hard for me, simply because I knew how to read the curveball life just threw,” Smith said. “I’ve overcome the reality by being thankful I am healthy and seeing the hardships others are going through at this time, just realizing it’s bigger than me and unfortunately bigger than softball.”

There aren’t many 18-year-olds, or people of any age, who are so naturally able to demonstrate this level of maturity on the subject. But Smith has always been this way. She attributes this to her upbringing.

“I mean I am always aware of life,” she said. “Two people I personally knew just lost their lives and it could’ve been anybody. Sometimes living in a low-class area makes you have to mature faster than usual.”

With softball in her rearview mirror, Smith has fully shifted her focus to the next four years and beyond. After earning a four-year academic scholarship, she is heading to Miami University on a full ride.

It is well known that the Ivy League is the best of the best. But since 1985, there are also eight Public Ivy League schools as coined by Richard Moll, then the dean of admissions at the University of California-Santa Cruz, in his book, "Public Ivies: A Guide to America's Best Public Undergraduate Colleges and Universities." He selected the schools because they provided an educational experience equivalent to the Ivy League but without the price tag.

Miami University is one of those eight schools. For someone who wants to get the most out of herself and her education, it is one of the reasons why Smith is hopefully heading to Oxford in a few months, depending on how the pandemic evolves.

“The school being considered one of the original Public Ivies gives a high-standard academic challenge, which I look forward to," she said. "And the campus life at Miami really attracted me. For weeks after I went there, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It felt like somewhere I belonged compared to other campuses. Plus, my favorite quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, went there.”

Smith will major in pre-med, a field that has always interested her. There was a time she wanted to be a lawyer, but over the years and with some of her life experiences, being a doctor became her true aspiration.

“I quickly realized I love hospitals … the smell, the pace, the intelligence the doctors hold,” Smith said. “Seeing doctors save my brother from a gunshot, then seeing them extend my grandmother’s life by giving her open-heart surgery, has always made me grateful and want to help others in the same way.”