Into the Hall: Jack Smarslak
Jack Smarslak had the unique distinction of playing a major role on three successful teams in three different sports while at Laurel Highlands.
Smarslak helped lead the Mustangs baseball team to section championships in 1991 and 1992, he was named All-WPIAL as a goalkeeper on an LH team that pulled off what many consider the biggest upset in the history of the WPIAL soccer playoffs, and he was the point guard of Laurel Highlands无毛视频� 1993 basketball team that put together a perfect 23-0 regular season while also winning a section title.
Smarslak went on to play baseball at Essex Community College in Maryland, Odessa Junior College in Texas and two years at NCAA Division-I West Virginia.
Those credentials have led to Smarslak being a part of the Fayette County 无毛视频 Hall of Fame Class of 2024.
It无毛视频檚 an achievement he is proud of.
无毛视频淲henever I received the phone call, to say that I was extremely excited would be an understatement,无毛视频� Smarslak said. 无毛视频淏ut what really did if for me was when I got off the phone I went to the Hall of Fame website and I started scanning through the list of men and women athletes that have been inducted before me.
无毛视频淭o see some of those names, especially some of the names that I remember my dad telling me about whenever I was a young boy, and to now know that my name is on that same list, to say that I无毛视频檓 honored is another understatement.无毛视频�
Smarlak is a proponent of participating in multiple sports, although he recognizes it无毛视频檚 less common now than when he played.
无毛视频淚无毛视频檓 kind of going through the situation with my son right now. I have a son Jacob, he无毛视频檚 in eighth grade,无毛视频� Smarslak said. 无毛视频淭o see how coaches want you to be working at one particular sport pretty much all year round, that was not the case when I was growing up. As the season changed, you changed with whatever sport was in season.
无毛视频淢y dad was the one that really started my love of sports up. He had an extreme love of sports and competition. He enjoyed playing everything. That quickly went over to me. I can无毛视频檛 imagine being confined to just playing one sport.
无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 kind of a shame the way that sports are being led to that direction right now. I无毛视频檓 glad I grew up when I did. That allowed me to be the best athlete that I could possibly be. I would无毛视频檝e had it no other way.无毛视频�
Smarslak无毛视频檚 best sport was baseball at Laurel Highlands. In addition to playing a key part in two section titles, he set the school record for walks as a junior with 22, then led the WPIAL with a .560 batting average in 1993.
无毛视频淭hose were some of the best days for sure,无毛视频� Smarslak said. 无毛视频淚 was really fortunate to play with some really good ballplayers. My junior year we were pretty loaded. There were four in our starting lineup that ended up playing Division-I baseball.
无毛视频淚 hit cleanup for the team. We did well but I wasn无毛视频檛 really satisfied with myself as a hitter.无毛视频�
Smarslak, who always had 无毛视频渁 very good understanding of the strike zone,无毛视频� decided to forgo his patient approach at the plate that led to his school walk record as a junior for a much more aggressive approach his senior year.
无毛视频淚 knew that I could do more,无毛视频� said Smarslak. 无毛视频淲ithout a doubt, best year of my career to that point. It seemed like I was able to barrel up just about every at bat that season. I was hitting above .600 until the last few games of the year. I think I was second in the WPIAL in RBIs and doubles.无毛视频�
Smarslak fondly recalled playing for LH baseball coach Tom Landman.
无毛视频淭om Landman, one of the best,无毛视频� Smarslak said. 无毛视频淚 had him as a teacher growing up and he was my coach for four years at Laurel Highlands. He was a very fundamental guy. He didn无毛视频檛 get overly excited. If things were going well, if things were going badly, he had the same approach, and I think that rubbed off on us.That无毛视频檚 what baseball is. There are so many ups and downs. He understood that and understood how to get that across to his players.无毛视频�
Smarslak had a love for football as a kid but at a fourth grade tryout he found a weight rule in place that would force him to play as a lineman only.
无毛视频淚 was always a big kid growing up. I grew fast. I was pretty strong for my age,无毛视频� Smarslak said. 无毛视频淚 was not a lineman. I needed the ball. I needed to be the quarterback or running back or wide receiver. So I didn无毛视频檛 even stick around for the tryouts.无毛视频�
That left Smarslak without a fall sport to play in fourth and fifth grade.
无毛视频淔inally sixth grade comes around and I remember going to my dad and saying some of my other buddies are playing soccer,无毛视频� Smarslak said. 无毛视频淚 know nothing about it, but can you call the local coach up (Chilly Williams) and ask him if I could be their goalie? Because I knew how to catch a ball. I knew nothing else about footwork or anything else about the game of soccer but stick me in goal and I think I got a chance to be pretty decent.无毛视频�
Smarslak无毛视频檚 assessment was spot on. He evolved into an outstanding goalkeeper for the Mustangs.
无毛视频淚 was not a technique kind of guy but I understood how to read, how to anticipate and was pretty successful in soccer because of that,无毛视频� said Smarslak, who played under coach Fran Lemansky in high school
无毛视频淐oach Lemansky, what a special guy,无毛视频� Smarslak said. 无毛视频淚 was so fortunate to be around just super coaches. What a great guy. He knew how to bring a group of Fayette County kids together and made us compete at a very high level.无毛视频�
Laurel Highlands needed to play at the highest level imaginable if it wanted to win a WPIAL playoff game in Smarslak无毛视频檚 senior season. The Mustangs were the 16th seed and met up with top-seeded and defending state champion Mt. Lebanon in the first round.
The result was mind boggling and stunning, a 1-0 victory by Laurel Highlands on Mt. Lebanon无毛视频檚 home field.
无毛视频淎nybody who was there will never forget it,无毛视频� Smarslak said.
Mt. Lebanon controlled the game throughout and outshot LH by a whopping 26-1.
Smarslak was at his best, however. He stopped all 26 shots from all angles.
无毛视频淭hey were on some ridiculous winning streak,无毛视频� Smarslak recalled of Mt. Lebanon. 无毛视频淭hey won the states the year before and they were the favorite to go on and win it again. We were the last seed coming in. We were just happy to get into the playoffs.无毛视频�
Smarslak recalled a talk with Lemansky at halftime with the game still scoreless.
无毛视频淚 still remember Coach Lemansky coming over to me and the rest of the defenders and he looked at us and he said, 无毛视频楾he only way we无毛视频檙e going to be able to win this game is to get to a shootout. If we can get to that shootout,无毛视频� and he looked right at me, 无毛视频業 know we无毛视频檙e going to win.无毛视频� That kind of confidence that he is giving me as a high school kid meant the world,无毛视频� Smarslak said. 无毛视频淭he defense and me just kind of huddled together and we said hey guys, we无毛视频檝e got to do what we无毛视频檝e got to do.无毛视频�
A shootout wouldn无毛视频檛 be needed as it turned out. Laurel Highlands无毛视频� offense seized the one opportunity that presented itself late in the game.
无毛视频淚t was about five minutes to go,无毛视频� Smarslak said. 无毛视频淢t. Lebanon was pushing us so far because they knew they had control of the game. Justin Kurilko snuck behind the defense and he got the ball. The goalie had come out to about the 18-yard line so he was way off of his goal line. Justin saw that, chipped it over his head, one bounce, into the goal. All of us are looking at each other, what just happened? We went up 1-0. Never expected that. And those last five minutes seemed like an eternity.无毛视频�
The Mustangs survived and claimed a miraculous 1-0 victory.
In basketball, Smarslak played under coach Mark John who guided the 1992-93 team, led by Nick Bosnic, to a perfect regular season and a section championship.
The Mustangs fell to Woodland Hills in the first round of the playoffs in overtime.
无毛视频淭hat was a tough one,无毛视频� Smarslak recalled. 无毛视频淲e faced Woodland Hills earlier in the regular season at our place and we beat them by eight. Their top player, Michael Keys, had got benched for the first six-seven minutes because he missed practice the day before. So we jumped out to a 10-0 lead in that game but then once Keys was in, they played us neck-and-neck.
无毛视频淲hen we saw the draw for the playoffs and we saw we had Woodland Hills, we knew we were going to be in for a battle. You know, we gave everything we had. We went into overtime, we actually went up in overtime and just could not find a way to hold on. That was a disappointment.无毛视频�
Smarslak was a team captain in all three sports at LH.
无毛视频淚 enjoyed playing that role,无毛视频� Smarslak said. 无毛视频淚 tried to make sure that I had my 100 percent best coming out every night no matter what sport it was.无毛视频�
Smarslak chose baseball when it came to playing a sport in college.
After playing at Essex and Odessa, Smarslak batted .314 as a starter for WVU his junior year under coach Greg Van Zandt, and added nine home runs and 38 RBIs. An elbow injury hampered him his senior year but he managed to hit .286.
无毛视频淥dessa was a really nice memory of mine,无毛视频� Smarslak said. 无毛视频淎 lot of people don无毛视频檛 understand the high level junior college baseball that is out there. If that was a Division-I school there无毛视频檚 no doubt in my mind we would无毛视频檝e been top 10 in the nation. The guys that we had were just top notch.
无毛视频淎t West Virginia, my first year there we had a special team as well. We were just outside the top 25. The highlight of that season, we played a Seton Hall team in the Big East tournament that had a starting pitcher by the name of Jason Grilli, and we beat him. We beat Brad Lidge at Notre Dame that year as well.无毛视频�
Grilli, with the Pirates, and Lidge went on to be All-Star closers in the major leagues.
The Fayette County 无毛视频 Hall of Fame Class of 2024 will be enshrined at the Hall of Fame Golf Outing/Luncheon/Social, starting with golf at 9 a.m., on June 21 at Pleasant Valley Golf Club in Connellsville. Luncheon tickets are sold out and all spots in the golf outing have been filled.