LA HABRA, Calif. – The grip of a bat and the crack of a baseball are second nature for Sonora High School senior, Brayden Smoot. The baseball field has always felt like a second home for him.

"Baseball has been my love ever since I was 4-years-old," said Smoot. "It just stuck with me."

It should come as no surprise that Smoot comes from a family of athletes. His parents were both collegiate athletes and his sister was a competitive cheerleader.

Smoot has followed right in their steps. Not only has he found success as a baseball player, but as his head coach Rich Lodding would tell you, he has become quite the role model.

"One of the things I think about Brayden is he’s selfless, it’s not about him," Lodding said. "He’s one of those guys that I would want my son to be like."

He may not be the star player of the team, but that is not what matters to him.

“You just have to be someone that’s willing to put in the work and support your teammates,” Smoot said with a smile.

That is a mindset Smoot carries into the classroom. In addition to baseball, he is involved in the National Honor Society, California Scholarship Federation, and a club called Best Buds.

As Smoot heads into his last year of high school, he said it is the relationships he has built on campus and those with his family and friends that continue to push him to succeed. The goal is to be the best athlete and student he can be.

"[It's] someone that can work hard both in the classroom and on the field," Smoot said. "Someone that just excels and wants to do good in both aspects."

It is that commitment to himself batting it out of the park and inspiring others along the way that makes Brayden Smoot a Spectrum News 1 Scholar Athlete.