Smith, Carraher named All-Ohio

Whiteoak had two players named All-Ohio by the coaches of the Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association this week.

Whiteoak senior Michael Smith was selected second-team All-Ohio, and junior Gage Carraher was All-Ohio honorable mention in Division IV for their efforts on the baseball field this spring, as the Wildcats were second place in the Southern Hills League, sectional champions and district runner-up as WHS finished with 20 wins this season.

"They both are great kids," Whiteoak baseball head coach Chris Veidt said. "They were captains for us, as they were leaders in how prepared they were. As they work as hard away from the baseball field as they work on it they will have great success in life, and that's what it's all about."

Smith, the lead-off hitter for Whiteoak, scored 35 runs in 27 games and had 42 hits in 93 at-bats. Of those 42 hits, two were doubles and four were triples, as the senior tallied 52 bases, including 10 walks. He also had 20 stolen bases.

The WHS senior also was hit by a pitch five times, collected 12 RBIs, added with a batting average of .452 with an on-base percentage of .528 and slugging percentage of .559.

"For the two years Michael was in our program he worked very hard to become the caliber of player and leader he became," Veidt said. "Michael is gifted and self driven … losing him to graduation is a tough loss because he's a great person.

"He can run, bunt and as it turned out he could do it all. He led us in every offensive category as he replaced a great lead-off hitter in Mikey Carraher this year. We had no idea we were getting this type of performance from him, but ever since he's been here he's bought into what we do."

In centerfield, Smith had 32 put outs in '12, along with two assists and a fielding percentage of 1.000.

Carraher was an all-around player for the Wildcats, but he completely dominated from the pitcher's mound.

"Gage this past year matured, and he went from just throwing the ball to being a pitcher," Veidt said. "This year he became one of the top two or three kids we've ever had in our program and he is still growing.

"At this time of year, in the summer, Gage is working at a high level and nobody works as hard as he does in the summer. With his maturity he's pitched in big games for us, so he's used to the responsibility. He's at his best in the biggest games."

For the season, Carraher struck out 111 batters (the WHS single-season school record), including 28 strikeouts this postseason in three games (two starts), totaling 15 1-3 innings on the mound. He finished with a pitching record of 8-2, and in all but his final start of the season struck out 10-plus batters. He also had two saves and two shutout victories.

He pitched 61.2 innings (including postseason) while allowing 14 runs (five earned) on 29 hits and 25 walks with an ERA of 0.63.

In the field, Carraher had a fielding percentage of .870 with 59 assists and 28 put outs.

At the plate, Carraher batted .329 (27 games) with an on-base percentage of .436 and slugging percentage of .435.