Catholic High’s William Schmidt Named Gatorade Louisiana Baseball Player of the Year

by: William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor

When Catholic High baseball coach Brad Bass went around the team hotel for bed check the night before their May 11 Division I select state championship game, the confidence oozing from his team was irrefutable.

The following day top-seeded Catholic completed a record-breaking season with a 5-0 victory over second-seeded John Curtis behind the dominate right arm of senior William Schmidt.

“No disrespect to anybody,” Bass said. “I don’t think it mattered who we played that day.”

That’s because the Bears (38-2), ranked No. 1 nationally and in contention for several national championships, had their ace Schmidt firing 95-plus mph fastballs with an off-speed mix that’s made him the envy of Major League Baseball teams that are expected to make him a first-round draft pick next month.

Gatorade made Schmidt its Louisiana Baseball Player of the Year on Monday after the LSU signee posted a 10-0 record with 102 strikeouts in 62.3 innings.

Schmidt, who averaged 11.4 strikeouts per game, walked just 17 batters and allowed 19 hits.

“His ability to be such a great teammate is what sets him apart,” Bass said. “Certainly, he’s got tremendous talent and tremendous ability and I believe he has a chance to play this game a long time.

“He made the clubhouse better,” Bass said. “He made the weight room better. He made the offseason better. He took the guys we had and elevated them. They were all great friends playing together. It was one of those special cases and I’m glad I had a front seat to watch it.”

Schmidt enjoyed a meteoric rise from a little-used freshman, a player Bass estimated to be 5-foot-7 and weighed less than 100 pounds, to committing to Mississippi State a year later.

As his body grew, so did Schmidt’s desire to become an elite-level pitcher. He’s reached 6-5 and topped 185 pounds, allowing him to develop a fastball that’s been clocked at 97 mph and developed all of his secondary pitches, including a devastating curveball.

Schmidt put his journey from contributor as a sophomore to staff ace as a junior and winning pitcher in the state championship game into its proper context.

“If you would have told my freshman self that I would have been pitching in this game, I wouldn’t have believed it,” he said.

Bass recalled the jump Schmidt made from the summer of his freshman year to that after his sophomore season, a span that also included his work with the Louisiana Knights travel team, as one that was transformative.

“We knew he could throw strikes; he had a good skill set,” Bass said. “Between the end of his freshman summer and end of the sophomore year a whole heck of a lot happened. He went from a freshman wondering if he would make the Catholic team to a sophomore commitment at Mississippi State. He’s a true testament to you just never know.”

Schmidt remained committed to Mississippi State until last fall when he switched his pledge and signed with LSU. Whether he winds up setting foot on campus, though, will be determined by the MLB Draft and the contract he’ll command.

Schmidt was up to the task when Catholic played a variety of out-of-state competition. The Bears were 6-0 in 2024 against teams ranked in the Top 25, none more highly regarded than a pitcher’s duel on March 14 that matched Schmidt against of Ole Miss signee Stone McCaughey of Olive Branch (Miss.)-Lewisburg High.

Catholic won 4-0 behind Schmidt’s 1-hit masterpiece with strikeouts.

“The bigger the game the better he is,” Bass said. “We went toe to toe with an incredible Lewisburg team. It was one of the rare times in high school baseball where you watch 95 (McCaughey) vs. 97 mph. (Schmidt). It was the way he could will us, and give us a chance. He elevated people around him.”

The pitching tandem of Loyola-New Orleans signee Ryder Loup and Schmidt helped Catholic march its way through the postseason and win the school’s sixth state championship.

Loup, who typically pitched behind Schmidt in the team’s rotation, allowed two hits and struck out five in his team’s 10-0 run-rule semifinal win over Acadiana, allowing the Bears to have Schmidt on two days of additional rest for the championship game against John Curtis.

“Ryder gave us that luxury and wanted the ball in the semis and Schmitty wanted to take us home,” Bass said. “That was a decision that wasn’t made alone. The players wanted it that way. I felt that both Ryder and William deserved it, and the matchups were good either way.”

Catholic jumped out to a 4-0 lead through two innings, allowing Schmidt to pitch with a lead the last six innings. The Bears, who won their last 20 games of the season, tallied another run in the fourth and watched their ace limit the Patriots to one hit with nine strikeouts to win the game’s MVP honors.

“Schmitty went every Thursday all year, so we had the opportunity to give him a few more days,” Bass said. “If had to, he would have come into pitch on that Thursday and he would have begged for the ball. It worked out so perfect.”