Troy catcher Chase Smartt has bounced around this summer, playing for two teams with the singular goal of getting better in advance of his sophomore season with his hometown team.

After starting with the Wareham Gatemen for the Cape Cod League, Smartt caught on with the Brockton Rox of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League.

“I am loving it up here,” Smartt said. “I am having a lot of fun up here and it is giving me some good experience for the future.

Smartt has played in a total of 32 games with the Rox. He is batting .309 with one home run and 18 RBIs. Smartt had his greatest run of success this summer from June 23 through June 30 when he had a total of 15 hits in 29 at bats during the seven-game span.

“There has been a lot of ups and downs so far,” Smartt said. “I am learning about myself, and I am getting better.”

Throughout the summer months, Smartt has traveled from game to game dedicating his summer to the game that he loves. “This is like minor league ball,” Smartt said. “We stay in hotels and we wake up and play baseball everyday. We go to workouts, and we have no days off. We have to improve everyday to stay in the starting lineup.”

With each passing day, Smartt continues to learn more about himself and what it takes to be the kind of player that he wants to be. The furthest the rising sophomore has traveled prior to this year was to Atlanta last summer.

“It’s something very new for me,” Smartt said. “I am having a great time. You learn how to make new friends. It’s something really new and I am loving it.”

The Rox have one week remaining in their regular season with the potential of making it to the post season. When Smartt comes back to Troy, the one thing he wants to bring back with him is his work ethic.

“I want to show my improvement and all of my hard work,” Smartt said. “I learned up here it’s not just about playing a lot of games. You have to work harder to keep getting better. That is what I want to carry back with me to Troy.”