Every year hundreds of thousands fans travel to Omaha, Neb., to watch the top college baseball teams battle it out on Charles Schwab Field, the site of the College World Series.
Parents bring their kids to give them a look of what it's like to compete for the highest honor a collegiate baseball team can receive. Long before he became the Harwich Mariners’ starting shortstop and a Cape League All-Star, Ty Smolinski was one of those fans.
"I got to see the national championship game when LSU won it with Paul Skenes and Dylan Crews. That was really cool."
Smolinski grew up attending Bellevue West in Nebraska for high school where he was the starting shortstop. Smolinski was ranked the fifth best player in Nebraska according to Perfect Game. Ty’s twin brother, Jake, shared his dream of becoming a talented baseball player.
"I have a twin brother, and we kind of grew up doing everything together. We both started playing baseball pretty young, and we grew up in a household of big Red Sox fans. Being up here in Massachusetts is pretty cool as a Red Sox fan. I started at a really young age, and I just loved it right away."
Ty has a powerful left-handed swing which has helped him hit for power his whole baseball career, which is similar to his favorite player growing up.
"I was always a big Bryce Harper fan. I wore No. 34 because of him. Bryce Harper was someone I always looked up to when I was younger."
Smolinski has always had the same goal throughout his career, but he said that dream became realistic during his sophomore year of high school.
"It became pretty realistic my sophomore year of high school when schools started reaching out to me, and I knew I was going to be able to do it."
The talented shortstop revolves around his family. Whenever he is not making plays on the diamond he spends his time with the people that have been with him every step of the way. This played a role in which college Smolinski would sign to, as he wanted to find a place that felt like home while continuing his baseball career.
"I built a really good relationship with the coaches pretty quickly. They offered me a couple days later, and I kind of knew that was where I wanted to go play in the Big 12, close to home."
Smolinski appeared in only 20 games his freshman campaign and only had 16 at-bats where he finished with a .250 batting average. Smolinski came back in his sophomore season winning the starting job and appearing in 52 of 55 games for the Wildcats where he would bat an astounding .339 with nine home runs.
In the new era of name image and likeness (NIL) deals, players move around schools frequently for the most financial opportunities. Smolinski chose stability over uncertainty after the bond he built with his coaches was so special.
"I built such a good relationship with those coaches. Nowadays, with how everything is in college baseball, it's kind of hard to find that because guys bounce around so much."
Smolinski has yet to see a lot of time at his normal position with the Wildcats because of Dee Kennedy, a 2025 Harwich Mariner that has been the starting shortstop with Kansas State for two seasons. Kennedy was one of Harwich's stars last year and actually made the 2025 Cape League All-Star game. Kansas State head coach Pete Hughes has now gifted Mariners fans with back-to-back All-Stars selections for Harwich.
"Our infield coach has known Steve for a long time, and we usually send our guys up to Harwich when they come to the Cape."
Smolinski arrived in Harwich in early June eager to meet his host family for the summer. Harwich Mariners’ president Mary Henderson chose her son Kevin and his wife Meredeth to host Ty and Mariners pitcher Riley Goodman.
"They're definitely not shy people. They're very outgoing, and my first impression was that they were awesome people who were going to be great to get along with all summer."
Kevin and Merideth can be found at almost every game cheering for the Mariners but especially the three current players they host: Smolinski, Goodman and Niko Brini.
Smolinski has been the offensive spark for the Mariners this season. Smolinski currently leads the Mariners in runs, hits, doubles, triples, home runs and RBIs. This was enough for him to be named an All-Star selection for the Mariners and will be the East team's starting shortstop.
Ty will talk to anyone whether that is his teammates, bat boys, interns and fans. Smolinski enjoys everything that comes with baseball, not just the home runs and diving grabs.
"What's so special about summer ball is you're with a bunch of guys you've never met before, and in a short amount of time you build really close relationships."
For Smolinski, the Cape was more than just a competition against top talent. It was an opportunity to learn more about himself as a player and to see how he reacted when things didn’t go as planned.
"You're going to face a lot of challenges up here. I just wanted to see how I handled adversity and failure, and grow as a player."
Smolinski will join his four Harwich teammates, JP Peltier, Nate Castellon, Quinton Coats, and Colin Larson Saturday at the All-Star Game hosted at Whitehouse Field. The kid who was sitting in the stands at the College World Series wondering what it would be like to be on the field is now preparing to suit up as the starting shortstop for the Cape Cod Baseball League All-Star Team.
