A hero in his own right

On the outskirts of the town where baseball began, a young Cyclone prepared to etch his name into heroic lore. 

With his Sarasota teammates huddled together in left center field, 12-year-old Pip Smalley dug his cleats into the batter’s box of Cooperstown Dreams Park and peered across the famed stadium. 

The Sarasota Middle School seventh-grader was finally on the same field where Major League Baseball talents David Price, Bryce Harper, Mike Trout and countless others displayed their talents in the Cooperstown Dreams Park National Invitational Tournament and were subsequently inducted into the American Youth Baseball Hall of Fame. 

With a firm grip on his bat, Smalley prepared for the pitch of a young lifetime. 

Then, he smacked the ball into left center field and the glove of fellow Sarasota Cyclone Caden Brown for his first home run of the King of Swat skills competition June 4. 

Smalley saw Brown and fellow teammates Paddy Hebda, Bo Bloom and Brady Bloom erupt into celebration. It was the first of four home runs Smalley would hit during the home run derby to finish tied for third out of 104 players. 

The Sarasota Cyclones slugger followed up his home run derby performance with six home runs during the single elimination tournament, which ran through June 10, helping lead his team to a 17th place finish out of 104 teams. 

“It was the best experience of my life so far,” Smalley said. “It’s a big deal to hit a home run at Cooperstown, and I hit six. My team also really overachieved. It was so cool because every game was a big game.” 

Smalley returned to the diamond June 27 for the opening game of the Florida District 16 Little League 11-and 12-year-old All-Star tournament — his fourth consecutive appearance at the tournament.

Smalley belted a solo home run and pitched a scoreless seventh inning to earn the win in relief, as Sarasota American topped Sarasota National 8-7 in extra innings. Sarasota American will return to action July 1 versus either Venice or North Port. 

“I love watching him play,” said Tammy Smalley, Pip Smalley’s mother. “He’s the best teammate there is anywhere. I think that’s why he does so well. He’s genuinely happy for everybody.” 

Following in the footsteps of his older brother, Cameron, Smalley started playing baseball when he was 4. 

The younger Smalley would spend countless Saturday afternoons peering through the chain link fences surrounding the fields at Sarasota Little League and watching every pitch his brother threw and at bat he took. 

“He was always pretty good at hitting, but his pitching was pretty bad when he was younger,” Smalley said. “Now he’s really good at it.” 

Smalley watched Cameron, who will be a senior at The Out-of-Door Academy in the fall, make his first All-Star team at 9 years old and continue every year until he outgrew the program. 

It was during his brother’s first All-Star tournament run that Smalley decided he would do everything in his power to follow suit. 

“I saw how big the games were and how the whole Little League park watched you play,” Smalley said. “It was such a big deal.” 

Smalley made his first All-Star team five years later at the age of 9 and has continued to do so every year since. 

At the end of February, Smalley hit five home runs to win the Sarasota County Home Run Derby during Sarasota Little League’s Opening Day celebration — five years after his brother took home the trophy. 

“It gives me (motivation) to work harder and do what he did,” Smalley said. “Whenever he does something, I either want to do that too or beat it.” 

Smalley split his time between baseball and football before giving up the latter sport to focus solely on his first love. 

Like many young All-Stars, Smalley has aspirations of playing in the MLB and being someone else’s favorite player. 

“I love the excitement of it,” Smalley said of baseball. “When the ball gets hit to you and you make a play or you stroke one in the gap, it’s a good feeling.”

For now, Smalley is content being his own hero and seeking advice from the one he’s been chasing all along. 

Pip and Cameron Smalley try to attend as many of each other’s games as possible, videoing their at bats and pitching sequences to use as a learning tool when they get home. 

The two brothers also will occasionally hit together at Extra Innings, and Smalley will throw in the bullpen to his older brother. 

Practicing with his brother has allowed Smalley to continually improve his skill set. But it’s the valuable life lessons, including what it means to be a good teammate and the importance of staying true to yourself, he’s learned from his brother that mean the most. 

“You always have to have a good attitude and have fun,” Smalley said. “I always try to stay happy during a game. If you have a good attitude then you’ll be successful more.”