Saying that Three Rivers College head baseball coach Tyler Smith has assembled an impressive coaching staff for the Raiders next season might be a big understatement.

Smith has added former Poplar Bluff High School and Little Rock Trojans standout Noah Burkey and TRC Athletic Hall of Famer Matt Palmer to the coaching staff. Burkey’s dad, Stacey, coached the Raiders for 27 seasons, while Palmer went on to play collegiately at Missouri State University and later pitched five seasons in the Major Leagues, primarily with the Los Angeles Angels, and coached at Cape Central this past spring.

“I’m really excited about the coaching staff that I was able to put together,” Smith said. “It’s a two-way street where I called both of them and they were interested. But the big deal was I was interested in them — and they were interested in coming back. I’m really excited to get them — and to get them in front of our players.”

Smith is also a big fan of Burkey and Palmer’s experience of playing at the Division I level — and of Palmer’s playing in the majors.

“I’m a big believer and a big proponent of if you want to get somewhere, you need to learn from people who have been where you want to go,” Smith said. “And both of them are the definition of getting somewhere you want to go, being Division I players — then Matt’s played at the highest level (being) the big leagues.”

Burkey was a key player at Little Rock, helping the Trojans make it to the Baton Rouge Regional this spring, where he started on the mound against LSU in June. Before that, Burkey played a season for Smith at TRC in 2022 and also played for the Cape Catfish in the Prospect League.

Smith said he is excited to have Burkey and Palmer work with the Raiders’ pitchers.

“I’m excited to get back in the weeds and work with our hitters, because that’s what I feel like I’m really good at,” Smith said. “Noah knows everything his dad knows (about pitching), plus what he knows. Noah’s just getting out of college and he’s been around the analytics, the metrics and the technology.

“Where Matt’s going to know everything mechanical and have the experience, Noah’s going to be able to help with all the new-school stuff. So we’re going to have a great mixture of new school versus old school on the pitching end.”

Meanwhile, Palmer was a standout on the mound for the Raiders in 1999 and 2000 before playing in the Major Leagues from 2008-12. As a rookie in 2009, he outdueled future Hall of Fame hurler C.C. Sabathia at Yankee Stadium on the way to winning 11 games as a rookie.

“Matt’s resume speaks for himself — 14 years of professional baseball and he was 11-2 one year in the big leagues (in 2009),” Smith said. “I know from just talking with people he was the same guy in the big leagues that he was at Three Rivers where he was a strike thrower.

“He was (throwing) 89-92 (miles per hour) and just able to pitch. … It’s one of those deals where he’s been there and he’s done it. He’s done everything you can pretty much do in baseball. And our guys we bring in, they’re going to have a real luxury to learn from him.”

Smith, Burkey and Palmer will have a talented team to work with ahead of the start of the fall scrimmage season and next February’s season opener. The Raiders have added several Division I transfers and have added some solid local talent, including Poplar Bluff’s Noah Spain and Dylan Hall, plus Twin Rivers standout Luke Hester.

“I’m really excited about the class we’re bringing in,” Smith said. “We had some good things happen last year. We’ve got a lot of momentum going on with facility upgrades and having those two guys drafted (Hayden Cuthbertson and Kailen Hamson) in this year’s draft — and winning a postseason game (this past spring). We’ve got a lot of momentum and I really like the class we got coming in.

“I’m really excited to see how they develop and that’s what’s awesome. We’ve gotten better every year since I’ve been here, and I’ve got these two guys (coaching) who are going to make that even better. I know if I’m excited to get to listen and learn from them every day, our players should be doubly excited.”

This story will be updated.