In addition to game day coverage, CU Sports Information Assistant Richard RoBards, a Tiger travel companion, will keep fans updated from the NAIA Baseball National Tournament Opening Round with his diary log.

Friday, May 21

"Little boy throws the ball and it goes up like the moon so bright


Swings his bat with all his might


And the world's so still as still can be


And the baseball falls, and that's strike three."



Seth Smith hasn't progressed that far in his baseball career, but if a four year old can live vicariously through someone else, then consider his big brother, Logan, his idol.

Four-year-old imaginations can sometimes run wild and so can expectations. That may be why Seth believes that Logan has smashed a total of 69 (eight in reality) homers this season. But, hey, who's counting?

"He won't quit yelling at me until until I acknowledge him," Logan said while awaiting word on a potential Thursday evening game. "He always says he wants to see me hit one of the balls where I touch all the bases."

"I can tell you that he thinks his brother hung the moon," said their dad, Binky.

Logan Smith

Seth is a pre-schooler at Kentucky Christian Academy and he can't recall many of the players' names. The teachers at KCA, believe it or not, haven't had the students to memorize the names of all the Tiger baseball players. What's happened to education? Seth claims to know Brian Chase and Chance Harker, but, as expected, he can only regurgitate one nickname - Logo (for big bro).

"It's good having him around," said Logan. "He loves the game as much as we do and he can actually hit and throw pretty well for someone not yet five."

But at Tiger baseball games hitting and throwing are the last things on Seth's mind. If the team's designated foul ball retrievers aren't pretty quick on their feet, Seth is like a Tasmanian vacuum cleaner. Seth doesn't give himself much credit, though, first answering the question about how many foul balls he thinks he's picked up this year as five - before finally settling in on the number 50.

If I counted correctly he may have had more than five the day CU played Cumberland U. in Joliet.

Pappa Ronnie (Hord) has been brainwashing Seth, too, turning him into a Dodgers fan. What ever happened to freedom of choice?

"The Dodgers are all the way out in Los Angeles," I asked. "I bet you don't get to see them often?"

"Papa Ronnie takes me," was the instantaneous response.

Logan is a recent Public Relations graduate with a minor in homeland security. Eventually he said he'd like to join his dad in the family insurance business, but he wants to try and find a job in Lexington before settling in on risk management full time.

Once he does, though, he feels like his baseball experience will help him in life.

"Baseball is so up and down and it's not always something you'll be successful in," said Logan. "You might go 4-for-4 one day and 0-for-4 the next. You have to learn how to adapt and that's all part of life."

Logan wasn't on the field Thursday night for his brother to watch - not counting the fact that the game could have been well past Seth's bedtime. Rain forced the cancellation of the matchup and CU and Cumberland will try again on Friday, game time set for 10 a.m. local time.

Coach Beauford Sanders called a team meeting that Assistant Scott Hortness said looked like a tornado drill, as all 23 players lined the second floor hallway of the Fairfield Inn.

The scenarios get a little tricky with the rainout, but the NAIA office needs to know the champion today. If they only get in one game, the winner goes. If they only get in five innings, the leader at that point goes.

"Here we go again," said Sanders, "scratching, clawing and climbing.

"Get your heads on right, because that 7 a.m. wake-up call is coming."

Seth may not know it yet, depending on his sleep schedule. But if Logo can hit one of those balls where he touches all the bases, maybe Campbellsville's chances are pretty good.

All entries of this diary, as well as tournament updates and live stats, can be found here

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