Campbell Smithwick was good enough offensively as a true freshman catcher for Ole Miss baseball last season.
The problem was his defense.
Smithwick committed to Ole Miss back in 2020 and signed years later as a Perfect Game All-American. He was the No. 68 overall recruit in the country, as well as the No. 1 catcher in Mississippi.
Smithwick opened the year as the team’s starter behind the plate. However, his struggles ultimately resulted in a demotion to a timeshare with backup Eli Berch.
Smithwick, in all, allowed 11 passed balls to get by him.
“He got sped up back there,” Ole Miss hitting coach Mike Clement said. Clement joined the Ole Miss Spirit’s ‘Flagship’ podcast this week. “Obviously everyone saw what the result was. No one’s more disappointed or harder on Campbell than Campbell.
“The beauty of the kid is he’s an incredibly hard worker and an incredibly awesome kid. He’s going to get better; there’s no question in my mind. He’s going to get past that. I think he’s going to be a superstar here. I really do.”
Smithwick is spending his summer refining his craft in the Cape Cod League.
A handful of Smithwick’s Rebel teammates are also up in Massachusetts: Andrew Fischer, Luke Hill, Sam Tookoian and Patrick Galle.
Judd Utermark is in the Northwoods League, while Drew Markle is in the California Collegiate League.
“There’s only two catchers on (Smithwick’s) team,” Clement said. “He’s going to catch every other day. I think that’s going to be super healthy for him — to go up there and get away and go catch.
“That’s what he needs to do. He played on the best travel team in the country; it’s not like he’s not caught good arms or any of that.”
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Liam Doyle was going to go to the Cape, too.
The Ole Miss coaches opted instead to hold him back in Oxford for rest following a heavy season’s workload. Same for rising sophomore infielder Brayden Randle.
The Rebels are coming off back-to-back losing seasons. They won their first-ever national championship in the summer of 2022. Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco and staff were retained but not extended for 2025. Bianco is expected to hire a pitching coach.
Doyle spent his entire debut Ole Miss season in the weekend rotation. He’s a one-time transfer from Coastal Carolina. Randle started 34 of his 43 games and hit .204 with two homers and 14 RBI.
“Felt he got tired by the end of the year,” Clement said of Randle. “Staying in Oxford and doing strength stuff and all of that.”
Smithwick hit .266 with a healthy .816 OPS. He started 24 of the 30 games in which he appeared. He had a homer and 12 RBI.
“Thank goodness for Berch,” Clement said. “What we recruited him to be, he was. We just didn’t think he was going to be our every-day catcher.”
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