Tigers' Smith to play softball for Columbia

Douglas High's Valerie Smith is headed for New York City.

The Tigers' senior catcher for the defending Northern 4A champion softball team recently committed to play softball at Columbia University, where she will enroll in fall 2005.

"It's an amazing school," Smith said. "It's Ivy League and I get to play softball there. I got everything I wanted in a school."

Smith, a 3.96 student at Douglas, made the decision to play for the Lions before the early signing period began in the fall. She held off on saying anything about it until she knew for sure she had been accepted at the school.

"I didn't want to jinx it or anything," Smith said with a laugh. "I spent a week in Washington D.C. during my junior year and loved the East Coast. I started out wanting to go to Harvard, and I always wanted to go to Stanford. Now I kind of get the best of both worlds."

She was considering Emory, Wisconsin, Utah, Providence College, and the College of Charleston, but after seeing the Columbia campus during a visit earlier in the year she quickly fell in love with it.

"It was their homecoming weekend," Smith said. "It was so much fun. They had a pep rally and they played Princeton, which is one of their big rivals.

"The campus is kind of small, it's right on the corner of 116th and Broadway in New York, and the athletic facilities are in Harlem. We'll have to take a bus to practice everyday, but the field is really nice. It overlooks the Hudson River."

Columbia is 45-48 over the last two years under coach Kayla Noonan. The Lions finished 6-6 in Ivy League play last season.

Smith said she ultimately wants to become a lawyer, but think she will do her undergraduate work in history or economics.

She is expected to start at catcher for the Lions in the 2006 season, but has her attention focused on helping the Lady Tigers defend their regional title in 2005.

Douglas returns a loaded lineup and a solid pitchind rotation, including Kayla Dunn, headed for Georgia Tech in 2005, and Brittany Puzey, bound for Nevada.

Kellei Kizer, another solid pitcher for the Tigers, could get several looks from colleges throughout the season. Douglas' Kaycee Wilcks and Kristy Olsen both made late commitments last year with Wilcks going to Nevada and Olsen going to Iowa State.

"I think having that many division 1 players coming out of this program is really amazing," Smith said. "It goes to show how much dedication we have all put into the sport. The end result is really amazing."

Smith batted in Douglas' No. 5 spot with a .394 average last year and started 41 games for the Tigers. She had three home runs and 41 RBIs to go with a .559 slugging percentage and a .446 on-base percentage.

She is also arguably the best defensive catcher in the state and has gunned down a high percentage of potential base-stealers in her career.