Hillary Smith

Hillary Smith has covered prep, pro and college sports -- and even a Dixie Baseball World Series -- for newspapers north and south of the Mason-Dixon Line since 1995.

An award-winning reporter in Louisiana and Indiana, she has both a bachelor's and a master's degree from Michigan State University and has worked at The Times since 2005.

She covers the RailCats as well as high school girls volleyball, girls basketball and baseball, though has been also been found at NASCAR races, Chicago pro events and college sports during her tenure at The Times.

Prior to a career in journalism, she was a basketball statistician for the Beach Middle School Bullpups and a Lane 6 swimmer for the Chelsea High School Bulldogs.

Reach Hillary Smith at (219) 933-3323 or hillary.smith@nwi.com

HILLARY SMITH: RailCats breathe sigh as season is underway

By Hillary Smith Times Columnist

There may have been a little frustration on the face of RailCats manager Greg Tagert as his team broke from its spring training camp.

HILLARY SMITH: Getting to know the RailCats reveals personalities

By Hillary Smith Times Columnist

Every May, for the past five RailCats seasons, the Times season-opening player profiles have provided a little more information than just stats and figures to independent baseball fans.

HILLARY SMITH: Add a month to the schedule; add it all

By Hillary Smith Times Columnist

GARY | Brad Boyer was atop the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball in hitting last season for most of the year.

HILLARY SMITH: Urban baseball gems need continuous shining

By Hillary Smith Times Columnist

The West Side baseball team played its fourth game of the year on Thursday on the same day that Lake Central played its 15th game of the year.

HILLARY SMITH: Highland senior caught in web of IHSAA rules

By Hillary Smith Times Columnist

When Kiersten Hilbrich's mouth starts to feel dry, she knows a cough will almost immediately follow. She can't breathe, and that she knows it sends fear through her body.

HILLARY SMITH: Baseball finds its quirks off the field

By Hillary Smith Times Columnist

Any baseball fan trying to keep score Sunday had a tough time finding a player not wearing No. 42.

HILLARY SMITH: Pitching prowess most likely to catch eye of RailCats

By Hillary Smith Times Columnist

GARY | RailCats fans who breathed in their taste of baseball season a week ago at fan fest have more to look forward to when the season kicks off in early May.

HILLARY SMITH: Minnie Minoso is a man of baseball

By Hillary Smith Times Columnist

GARY | After retirement, countless professional athletes will attempt to cash in on their fame by building a restaurant or charging ridiculous prices for autographs.

HILLARY SMITH: Watch the skies, new bats as baseball kicks off

By Hillary Smith Times Columnist

Mark Schellinger is in his third year as the baseball coach at Merrillville. This season was the first he's held the regularly scheduled scrimmage against Highland.

HILLARY SMITH: Tweet this: watch your Twitter

By Hillary Smith Times Columnist

Most of the RailCats who have Twitter accounts haven't updated them in days or months. Those who have aren't talking about the upcoming baseball season.

HILLARY SMITH: Newest coach to the baseball fraternity ready to show what Spartans can do

By Hillary Smith Times Columnist

How ready is Mike Carden to start the baseball season?

HILLARY SMITH: Merely a number, an athlete doesn't let age define distinction

By Hillary Smith Times Columnist

Watching the college basketball season ramp up to its pulse-pounding close is a grim reminder of college years gone by.

HILLARY SMITH: Reliving the memories from the season that was

By Hillary Smith Times Columnist

A girls basketball streak in the north came to an end Saturday when North Central topped Penn in the semistate.

HILLARY SMITH: When the chance comes to open up, consider it for scheduling

By Hillary Smith Times Columnist

E.C. Central's girls basketball season itinerary reads like a map of northern Indiana.

HILLARY SMITH: C.P.'s Beth Ingram defines ups and downs of Bulldogs season

By Hillary Smith Times Columnist

Crown Point's injuries this season have depleted the girls basketball roster almost beyond recognition.

HILLARY SMITH: E.C., L.C. rematch comes 17 years after historic showdown

By Hillary Smith Times Columnist

MUNSTER | On Feb. 11, 1995, Lake Central and E.C. Central played their way into a regional final that pitted two of the top teams in the country against each other for a chance at a semistate.

HILLARY SMITH: Merrillville's undefeated season ends without roar

By Hillary Smith Times Columnist

PORTAGE | Victoria Gaines hit a screen by a Michigan City player and crumpled to the floor.

HILLARY SMITH: Next goal is to solve the turnover battle

By Hillary Smith Times Columnist

MUNSTER | Tracie Mezera sighed when asked about Highland's turnovers against Lowell in Wednesday's girls basketball sectional.

HILLARY SMITH: With the will, the Cougars are finding their way

By Hillary Smith Times Columnist

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP | Smiling on the edge of the court, the Gary 21st Century girls basketball team beamed like a squad that had won a sectional championship.

HILLARY SMITH: Shake the champions out of the IHSAA bracket tree

By Hillary Smith Times Columnist

Picking out the cream of the crop, the top of the heap, the best of the best is as much a crap shoot as it is skill and girls basketball intelligence.

HILLARY SMITH: Lighthouse's season of progress comes to an end

By Hillary Smith Times Columnist

After Lighthouse Academy lost its first game of the season 56-2, you'd expect every inch of the balloon on a first-year girls basketball program to deflate.

HILLARY SMITH: Can local teams buck class trend?

By Hillary Smith Times Columnist

Bowman Academy girls basketball coach Janora Holmes spent Sunday's girls basketball IHSAA sectional draw in Indianapolis, on the air at the Fox 59 TV station where it was shown live on television.

HILLARY SMITH: How should a man be honored in death?

By Hillary Smith Times Columnist

Throughout college football's litany of scandals, Joe Paterno has been credited with holding Penn State to a higher standard, one of "Success with Honor."

HILLARY SMITH: Lowell hoops hopes to find right momentum

By Hillary Smith Times Columnist

LOWELL | Katie Antcliff was already preparing for the next two weeks to be the hardest of the season.

HILLARY SMITH: What not to wear as defined by MLB

By Hillary Smith Times Columnist

The first whisper of the words "dress code" typically elicit a response of gasps, or "why?" or "no way!" especially when it comes to requiring what children wear in public schools.

HILLARY SMITH: Crown Point's Swan has circular view of Rumble

By Hillary Smith Times Columnist

EAST CHICAGO | Clint Swan was coaching at Andrean in 1999 when he took a call asking his team to participate in the first Times Region Roundball Rumble.

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