Larry Smith

In 1966, Larry Smith came to KC as Head Baseball Coach and after coaching nearly 1,900 baseball games retired after the 2002 season. Only the fourth Illinois Junior College coach to surpass 800 victories, his teams garnered seven conference championships (SICC-1968, 1973, 1974, 1979, 1981, GRAC-1988). Smith was Conference Coach of the Year in 1988. His team record stands at six NJCAA sectional titles, sectional runner-ups 17 times, and at Regional level, placed fourth in 1989, third in 1985 and 1994, and took the Region 24 title in 1991. Great Lake District Tourney runners-up in 1991 only two games kept them from playing in the NJCAA National Tournament. Twelve of his players signed with major league organizations and three played in the big leagues. Smith also developed a copyrighted baseball scorebook in 1968 and taught baseball and sportsmanship to local youth through countless baseball camps and clinics.

He served as Chairman of the Illinois Junior College Baseball Committee in 1982, 1983, 1991 and 1994 and was a member of the Region 24 Baseball Committee since 1982. Smith coached the South Junior College All-Stars, hosted at Wrigley Field in 1982 and 1994 as well as being named Assistant Coach in 1979, 1981, 1983, and 1984. He was chosen to coach the North team in the 1986 U.S. Olympic Festival in Houston, Texas that took the bronze medal. Smith was the driving force behind building a state-of-the-art baseball facility for Kaskaskia College, utilizing volunteers and donations; resulting in one of the finest college baseball facilities in existence. The complex was named Larry Smith Field in 1999 in honor of Coach Smith and in 2003 his KC baseball jersey #3 was retired.

His many honors include the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches’ Hall of Fame, the Centralia Sports Hall of Fame, the Cerro Gordo Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the NJCAA Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame in 2009.