If it were possible, the legendary status of the LSU Baseball 2024 Signing Class continues to grow.
The state’s top prospect for the Class of 2024, Catholic High-Baton Rouge right-hander William Schmidt announced on his social media that he has verbally committed to play for Jay Johnson’s squad.
A 6-4, 185-pound hard-throwing right-hander who had originally committed to Mississippi State, had offers from all the top schools in the country including Texas, Georgia, Texas A&M and Ole Miss.
“I didn’t have a lot of options early in my prep career,” he said of collegiate choices. “But my growth and development really got better. Mix that with the fact that Coach Johnson was just arriving at LSU and putting together the team and really building the program. He just missed me. I understood it. But, things change.
“I’ve been in Baton Rouge for 17 years and I think I’ve been to every single LSU home game. In my baby pictures I was always in LSU gear. I’ve grown up on the campus. I got to watch all the success this program has produced. I want to be one of those guys.”
Helping Catholic High reach the state semifinals last season as a junior, Schmidt was 5-1-1 on the mound for the Bears with a sterling 0.94 ERA.
With one Major League Baseball scout saying Schmidt has one of the best breaking balls he has ever seen on the high school level, the LSU commit gave an honest scouting report on himself for those that have not seen him play.
“Skinny, but he’s putting on weight,” he said. “I’m pretty tall, lengthy, built kinda weird in an unusual way. Right now on the mound you are going to get 94-95 with the fastball and on a good day you will get 96 mph with 2300 RPM’s. Not super heavy (on the fastball) but it does have a good rise.
“Then you get ‘the hammer’ (the curveball). No matter what the count is, you will probably get the hammer. It’s my go-to pitch. I probably throw it more than my fastball. It ranges from 2900-3000 RPM’s. Basically I grip it and let it eat at the top of the zone and it breaks down. I can start it for a strike and let it break down into the dirt or I can start it at your face and let it break down into the strike zone. It’s around 79-81 mph. This year I’m working hard on the change-up so opposing batters can’t just guess fastball-curveball and sit on it. It’s coming along at about 84-85 mph, your classic circle that may run a little bit or drop a little bit, but it’s mainly to change speeds. Also working on a hard slider. Trying to develop another out pitch.”
The pitcher that he models himself after is former Catholic High standout and LSU All-American Aaron Nola.
“My coaches at Catholic High right now say I remind them exactly of (Nola),” Schmidt said. “I throw a little harder than he did at this age, but we are really similar.”
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