Less then a week after ending his freshman season with the Troy Trojans, Chase Smartt is getting his feet wet in the Cape Cod League with the Wareham Gatemen.

Smartt’s first season with the Trojans had its ups and downs, but the experience and the fun he had playing for his hometown team was invaluable.

“I had a lot of fun as a freshman,” Smartt said. “There was a lot of transition heading into the Division 1 level.

“I had a pretty good season. I was able to play with my dad, Joey Denison and Houston Mabray, my former teammates,” Smartt said. “It brought back a lot of memories of the high school days.

Smartt’s experience will go a long way towards his success in the future. Smartt finished the year batting .241 with 1 homerun and 32 RBIs.

“It wasn’t about my results,” Smartt said. “It’s about the whole team. We came together and we did good together.”

Smartt, who blew away the opposition while at Charles Henderson, said being a hometown player with his father as a head coach brought a little bit of pressure to succeed in the early going of the season.

“There was pressure at the beginning,” Smartt said. “I just wanted to do something that helped the team and my dad. I looked at my dad in two ways, as a coach and as a dad. I wanted to impress him in both ways. I started to settle down and have fun.”

Smartt helped his team out defensively this season. Known primarily as a catcher, Smartt moved around the infield a bit and played second, shortstop and third at times throughout the season. Even though he has experience playing all four positions, he prefers to be behind the plate.

“I love to be involved with every pitch,” Smartt said. “Being a catcher you have to be really close with your pitchers and that’s what I love about it. There is a close bond between a catcher and a pitcher.”

With just under a week to regroup and rest, Smartt packed up his things and traveled north to play in the well-known league that invites the nation’s top players.

“I am having a blast,” Smartt said. “It’s a blast to just be up here and playing. There are great players around me. The nation’s top players get invited to come up here and play. Just being around them and playing with them is fun … I am learning and having fun at the same time. That is what baseball is all about.”

Even though there was no time to rest and relax, Smartt believes continuing to play baseball will only help his game heading into next season.

“In baseball you don’t need breaks. It’s too hard, you can’t take breaks,” Smartt said. “There are other people that are always trying to be better than you. I want to be better then them and get better every day.”