Consummate Professional: Dutchtown’s Chris Schexnaydre hasn’t left any stone unturned during his successful tenure
by William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
Justin Morgan was a 26-year-old assistant coach in his first season at Dutchtown High where Chris Schexnaydre was also in his first season as head coach. Schexnaydre had been an assistant to Mike Toups when the first school first opened in 2002, and the Griffins were Class 4A state champions two years later.
Morgan wanted to impress Schexnaydre and arrive early at the field for a 1 p.m. Saturday game. He believed an 8 a.m. arrival was appropriate only to see Schexnaydre’s truck already parked.
He began searching for Schexnaydre, first looking in the press box to see if his boss may be filling out a lineup card ahead of the game. What startled Morgan, though, was not only was Schexnaydre already on the job, but he found him scrubbing toilets in the restroom.
“I’m thinking I was going to beat everybody there,” Morgan said. “He wanted to make sure the bathrooms were clean. He wanted the perception of his program to be first class all the time. He challenged the parents, that by looking at our facilities, to the way we treated them, he wanted them to leave, knowing this is a first-class program, and we do things the right way.
“He wasn’t a finger-pointer and telling somebody to do something he’s not willing to do,” Morgan said. “He took too many things on his own. He has elbows and toes in it. His commitment to the program has been remarkable to watch.”
That level of devotion has remained a staple where the 52-year-old Schexnaydre, nicknamed ‘Shake’ as a youth, remains the head coach after 17 seasons and 23 overall since the school became the newest in Ascension Parish.
He remains a staunch proponent of his players and empowers parents to take a sense of ownership in the success of the program which has never missed the state playoffs.
No. 10 Dutchtown (25-11) travels to No. 7 Natchitoches Central (27-7) for the start of the best-of-three Division I non-select regional series which begins with a doubleheader at 4 p.m. Friday. A third game, if necessary, is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday.
“They need to understand that baseball’s a small part of their lives,” Schexnaydre said of his players. “If I’m someone they’re looking up to as a leader I try to go about my business and do it in the right way. I try to treat parents with respect, I try to treat umpires with respect, I try to treat the opposing team with respect. As they see me doing those things they try to copy that. I feel like I’m a good leader in a lot of different ways.”
Morgan said Schexnaydre brought the exact blueprint on how to run a program from his playing days under legendary Delgado Community College coach Joe Scheuermann, the state’s winningest coach who will be inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in June.
Scheuermann, now in his 35th season, fostered a family environment at home games where his late sister worked the gate, his daughter and wife handled the concession stand, and his son handled publicity for the team and ran the scoreboard.
Schexnaydre, 425-207-2, has employed a similar approach at Dutchtown where it was common to see his parents and siblings (he’s one of seven children) working games.
“It’s a family-oriented program at Delgado,” said Morgan, who took over Toups’ teaching spot in January of 2008 and became the program’s pitching coach. “Chris runs Dutchtown just like that. I don’t remember in my seven years that I didn’t see a family member of his. He comes from a super tight-knit family. That’s what I love about him the most and what I got to appreciate about him the most. I knew he was a family guy, but I didn’t know to what extent. To see that side of him was great.”
Schexnaydre is the product of a father, Elmo, who coached baseball at Archbishop Rummel, East Jefferson, and Grace King.
He attended St. Amant where he pitched and helped the Gators to the first of the school’s five state championships in 1991 – a convincing 18-4 victory over Airline High and future LSU All-American Todd Walker.
There’s never been an element of self-absorption on Schexnaydre’s part. He believed he topped out at 82 miles per hour on the mound, but he retained a quick tempo and command of the strike zone that endeared him to his teammates and coaches.
“I worked extremely hard,” he said. “I wasn’t the most talented, but I worked really hard.”
Head coach Brian Moreau also appreciated Schexnaydre’s organizational skills where after the season, Schexnaydre collected the team’s uniforms, bats, and balls and stored them in a closet until the following season.
Moreau also had a direct impact on Schexnaydre’s future.
“He was kind of like a dad to me,” Schexnaydre said. “He and his wife didn’t have any kids at the time. Coach had a good time with us. He was a really good coach. I felt he got the most out of his players. I felt I always wanted to be a coach. Just the way he handled us and allowed me to kind of be a player-coach. I figured that’s what I wanted to do the rest of my life.”
Despite his own self-deprecating style, Schexnaydre was a college pitcher, first at Delgado and then at the University of New Orleans.
“I wasn’t a hard thrower, but I could dominate the strike zone,” he said. “I got an opportunity to go to Delgado and it wasn’t because I was the most talented guy.”
He enjoyed a standout summer season in American Legion competition, going 13-1 for a team that advanced to the World Series, before enrolling at Delgado and playing for Scheuermann.
His ability to pitch and throw strikes landed him a spot at UNO and played for Tom Schwaner from 1995-96.
Schexnaydre set a school record with 13 career saves, a mark that’s since been surpassed by Reeves Martin’s 26 and Ryan O’Shea’s 18 in three seasons. He’s tied for fourth with 10 saves during the ’95 season, and his career earned run average of 2.64 (33 earned runs in 112.2 innings) is still fifth best, and 45 career appearances is tied for 16th.
“I threw strikes, I wasn’t special, but I knew how to play the game,” Schexnaydre said. “My teammates knew that when I was on the mound, they were going to get a lot of strikes, so they were always ready to go. My teammates and coaches had a lot of confidence in me. They didn’t have radar guns back then while I was pitching. There were no scouts in the stands.”
Schexnaydre was exposed to coaching high school players in a fall league from teams around New Orleans, giving him valuable experience, working with a group from Rummel in the All-America League played at Delgado.
Upon the conclusion of his playing career, Schexnayder continued building his resume as a student-coach at UNO before joining the high school staff at Grace King as an assistant.
“When I played, I watched and paid attention to the coaches,” he said. “I picked up a lot of stuff from coach Moreau, from Joe Scheuermann (1,178 wins before this season), coach Schwaner (school’s second-winningest coach with 462 wins), and other coaches from UNO. I felt like I had some really good mentors when I was growing up.”
Toups was among that aforementioned group of teachers, hiring Schexnaydre to assist him on the school’s first team. The Griffins defeated St. Thomas More, 1-0, to win the Class 4A state title two years later and when Toups left to take over his father’s business, Schexnaydre was elevated to interim coach and then head coach where he’s been ever since.
Dutchtown remained a major player in Class 4A. The Griffins were 23-16 in Schexnaydre’s first season and lost 7-6 to Catholic High of Baton Rouge in the state quarterfinals. A year later, they were in the state title game for the first in five years with a pair of shutout victories, followed by two one-run wins, to oppose Northshore which won the Class 5A state championship, 7-2.
Among Schexnaydre’s fascinating traits is his recall, which is the ability to dissect games with an eye toward pivotal plays from games played more than a decade ago.
That ranges from a painful 8-6 loss to eventual state champion Catholic High of Baton Rouge in a 2010 semifinal to another trip to the state semifinals where Dutchtown led eventual state champion Barbe 1-0 in the top of the sixth.
Schexnayder can still see Barbe’s speedy center fielder Trey Quinn, who went on to play for five teams in the NFL, recording outs in left field, including a key catch with the bases loaded and two outs. He also came up in the sixth with the bases loaded and two outs and it was his ground ball that was thrown away into the dugout, allowing two runs to score in a 2-1 defeat for the Griffins.
“(Pitcher) Troy Lewis was dominating the game,” Schexnayder said. “We had (future Ole Miss and Major League pitcher) Jacob Waguespack ready to throw the next game. We had some chances.”
Schexnaydre has won 67% of his games at the school, putting together 14 20-plus win seasons with a best record of 35-4 in 2022. Dutchtown’s won seven district championships and advanced to the state tournament five times, but to hear him tell it, it certainly hasn’t been a one-man production.
Assistant coaches such as Morgan have coached alongside Schexnaydre along with former assistants Bob Lemons, Max Richter, and Bill Mitchell. Troy Templet, Caleb Ricca, and Chris Harrell make up his current staff who are given total autonomy in their areas of expertise.
“To his credit, I was 26 and fresh out of pro ball,” Morgan said. “I had never really coached true high school baseball. He told me to take the pitchers and call pitches. He never questioned me in seven years. That’s the type of trust he has in his coaches. He’s done that with multiple guys.”
Schexnaydre, winner of the Louisiana Baseball Coaches Association’s Tony Robichaux Ethics Award in 2024, believes in allowing his coaches to coach without casting a shadow.
“I tell my coaches that if they want to coach, come to Dutchtown and you’re going to get a chance to coach,” he said. “I’m going to take care of the other outside distractions. There are a lot of things that go into being a head coach, especially in today’s time. I absorb that stuff and allow my coaches to coach. I trust them. I’ve had some really good coaches because I feel they enjoy working with me. It’s been good for me.”
Schexnaydre is regarded as a player’s coach, a coach who doesn’t believe in cutting players so that, regardless of their role, can be part of the team fabric and can have an enjoyable high school experience.
When observers questioned the number of players Schexnaydre would retain in his entire program (he dresses out 36 varsity players this season), he’s remained committed to those players.
“He’s been told by guys in the area, including myself, we were carrying too many guys (65 to 70) in the program,” Morgan said. “LSU doesn’t dress out that many in the dugout. It’s because of his love for kids. He wants them to be part of something because he knows how important the high school athletics experience is. He’s a soft-hearted dude that doesn’t want to leave anybody out of that opportunity.
“He truly cares for them as young men and how they carry themselves and how they represent not only the program but now they represent themselves, their families, and the school,” Morgan said. “He wants them to be great men when they leave his program. He wants to win games. He’s a super competitive guy, but he has such a big heart for his players and kids in general.”
Schexnaydre takes a keen interest in the future of his program. Not only does he handle scheduling for his freshman and junior varsity, but he’s also the one driving the bus to road games and watching intently.
It’s another area of a demanding profession that makes him unique.
“There aren’t many games that I don’t go to,” he said. “I want to be able to see them grow and see what we’re going to have for the next year. That’s allowed me to put eyes on some kids, seeing what kids have had success and who we could count on in the future.”
His relationship-building in his two-plus decades at the school extends to the parents who are made to feel special and feel compelled to give back.
“Nobody would do that for anybody,” Morgan said. “I give Chris a ton of credit because of that. What Chris has done is take a good and a great program and still found a way to make it better with the facilities, camaraderie, and family atmosphere they have in the program.”
Two staples of a Schexnaydre-coached team – pitching and defense – have been two of the pillars in the success of this year’s team which finished a game behind Live Oak in the race for the District 5-5A championship.
“Always stress to our guys that we’re going to get solid pitching; we’re going to make routine plays and we’ll give ourselves a chance to be in the game,” said Schexnaydre, who is 57-29 against parish rivals St. Amant and East Ascension. “I like our guys (pitchers) to work with a fast tempo. That’s how I was, and you keep your defense on their toes, and it allows them to play a cleaner game.”
The Griffins have a deep and talented staff led by Louisiana Tech signee Casey McCoy (4-1, 3 saves, 0.91 ERA, 11 BBs, 22 Ks). Caden Hill (4-3, 2.30, 12 Bs, 50 Ks) is a South Arkansas College signee and Danny Sears (3-1, 2.80, 18 Bs, 27 Ks) has signed with Louisiana Christian University.
Cason Johnson (4-0, 1.71, 12 Bs, 49 Ks) is also among the team’s starters with contributions from Tucker Suire (3-0, 1 save, 1.80, 9 Bs, 9 Ks), Ian Young (2-0, .084, 4 B, 5Ks) and Dillon Wilson (1-0, 0.58, 8B, 9 Ks).
“We’ve been really good with our starting pitchers,” Schexnaydre said. “Casey’s been really good as our closer.”
McCoy’s among a group of players batting above .360 (.354, 8 2Bs, 5 3Bs, 2 homers, 20 RBIs, 8 stolen bases) with left fielder Dawson LeBlanc (.356, 10 2B, 2 3B, 23 RBIs, 7 SBs), catcher Cooper Pickett (.357, 5 2B, 14 RBIs) and Cason Johnson (.352, 7 2Bs, 24 RBIs).
Pickett’s been a big key this season when last year’s starting catcher Dylan Champagne suffered a season-ending knee injury while playing quarterback in the fall.
“Cooper Pickett’s stepped up and did a tremendous job,” Schexnaydre said. “We’ve had other juniors that have stepped up and have experience now.”
Because Dutchtown’s home field doesn’t yield many home runs, it’s considered more pitcher-friendly and demands a more fundamental approach than a more station-to-station style, coupled with standout pitching and defense.
The Griffins have followed the formula, becoming the 17th consecutive team under Schexnaydre to reach the playoffs with designs on becoming Schexnaydre’s ninth team to advance to the state quarterfinals.
“I’m super proud of him,” said Morgan, who was 225-103-1 in 10 seasons, leading U-High to its first state title last season before entering the business world. “As a young head coach, I thought it was about how much baseball that I knew. When I took over the program at U-High, I realized all of the things Chris was doing and helped me along the way from a management standpoint. It’s the administrative part of it that’s the hardest part. The grind of it.
“He’s a great communicator; he’s a hard worker,” Morgan said. “He’s been their head coach for 17 years and is still early on a Saturday morning and he’s still going to be there late. Not many people are willing to do that. He’s not going to give himself any credit. He’s the guy at the team banquet to say if we had a successful year, it’s because of the assistant coaches. That he doesn’t know as much baseball as well as they do.”
Among his greatest thrills in coaching came for Schexnaydre last summer when he was on the staff of the East Bank All-Stars that won the Little League World Series in Livermore, Calif.
With Ascension Parish not carrying an Intermediate Team all-star team in his son Tanner’s age group, Schexnaydre moved heaven and earth to find a spot for his talented right-handed pitcher to play.
He eventually got a response after three weeks from an official in the Little League International headquarters in Williamsport, PA to agree to allow his son to be a part of the East Bank 11-13-year-old team.
With his father helping out, Tanner and the East Bank squad rolled through regional competition in San Antonio and qualified for the World Series.
With the Schexnaydre’s traveling as a family, they roomed together while in San Antonia with Tanner sleeping on the floor because his sister was in the one available bed adjacent to their parents.
Schexnaydre was aware of the wishes of the East Bank head coach for players to store their cell phones in the evening to get rest for upcoming games. When he noticed his son was still attached to his phone, Schexnaydre instructed him to save it up, setting off a tense exchange.
“He said that’s why he didn’t like me coaching him,” Schexnaydre said of his son, a seventh grader at St. Theresa Catholic in Gonzales. “I left to check on our laundry and my daughter, who is intense, lit into him. When I came back, I scrolled down my phone and saw he had sent me a text and that he loved me. He’s sitting right there at my feet.”
The younger Schexnaydre, with his dad at his side, enjoyed one of his biggest baseball moments, helping to lead East Bank to the World Series championship. He pitched two complete games, the first in a 4-2 win, and allowed two unearned runs on three hits with eight strikeouts – a performance in which he landed 61 of his 73 pitches for strikes.
Tanner was called on the U.S. Championship game against the host team and delivered another complete game effort. He gave up one unearned run and struck out 11 – throwing 58 of 74 pitches for strikes – in a 3-1 victory to advance to the final where they defeated South Korea, 8-7.
The younger Schexnayder, who was named the Sugar Bowl’s Co-Athlete of the Month, retired 15 straight batters and 18 of the last 19 he faced in the second game. He also batted .333 for the tournament.
“He’s a little more talented than I was,” Schexnaydre said of Tanner. “He knows the game. I talk about pitching with a sense of urgency on the mound. A lot of umpires have told him to slow down. He has a really good tempo. He does a lot of the things I stress to our guys because he’s around our team all the time. I think it will be fun to coach him and see how he responds to me helping with him.”
The rise of Tanner Schexnaydre has brought into question his father’s coaching future.
With the impending retirements of David Jordan at Catholic High-New Iberia after 34 and Scott Phillips at Eunice after 33, Schexnaydre has looked ahead and would like to coach his son when he arrives at Dutchtown in two years.
“My plan is to coach him his freshman year and see how he responds to me coaching him,” he said.
Schexnaydre, who also taught Career Readiness until recently handling in-school discipline cases, looks to begin the Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP) once he reaches 30 years in the state system in six years. After that, he’ll render a decision about his future prospects.
“There are fewer guys that are staying at one place for 20-plus years and to do it at a high level as well,” Morgan said. “People are quick to be critics and not credit a guy who’s done it for 17 years (as head coach) at the school the size of Dutchtown. Kudos to him. It’s his personality. How much he cares about kids and parents, and how much he wants them to appreciate the time in a Dutchtown High School program.
“It’s not an easy job, it’s a thankless job, Morgan said. “In Ascension Parish, baseball is kind of the No. 1 sport there. There are guys growing up playing at a high level and some of them have coached it. The expectation is pretty high on what you bring to the table as a coach. He’s had opportunities to go and take over other programs. He loves that school.”