2 hours ago
The roots of Kelsie Schmidt’s success as a two-sport standout at Chapelle began on the spray-painted lines of a basketball court outside her family home in Kenner.
There, the five-year varsity basketball and softball star learned toughness battling boys two and three years older — including her brother Brady, a former Rummel baseball standout now pitching for Southeastern Louisiana.
Sometimes after getting knocked to the pavement, she’d run inside with tears in her eyes, only to return for another game.
“My brother never took it easy on me,” Schmidt said. “That’s why I am the athlete that I am.”
Brady remembered those games just as well.
“She would get mad and hurt,” he said with a laugh. “And she would get back up. She was tough.”
Kelsie also was observant. With Brady two years older, she spent countless weekends tagging along to his travel-ball tournaments back when he played catcher before eventually moving to the mound.
Watching him excel behind the plate inspired Kelsie to give it a try — and she played catcher when she arrived at Chapelle in eighth grade.
Now, having just completed a varsity basketball career with more than 700 points and 700 rebounds, Schmidt brings power and consistency to the middle of the lineup for a 14-2 Chapelle softball team that began the week at No. 1 in the LHSAA Division I select power ratings.
In four games last week, the Coastal Alabama softball signee clobbered three home runs, including one during a four-hit, three-RBI outing against Dominican to open district play.
“Her plate approach this year has been really, really good,” Chapelle coach Scott O’Brien said.
For Schmidt, producing at the plate is nothing new. Her hitting skills earned her a spot in the starting lineup while in eighth grade.
She later starred on Chapelle's state championship team as a sophomore, earning an all-state selection from the Louisiana Softball Coaches Association.
Another highlight came in the quarterfinals last season, when she blasted a low pitch for a two-run home run in a 4-1 upset of top-seeded Pineville, securing another trip to the state tournament.
O’Brien keeps a picture of a smiling Schmidt in midstride as she rounded first base after the ball cleared the outfield fence.
“When you see a kid that worked really hard, and they have that moment for themselves, that makes it all worth it for me,” O’Brien said.
In her early softball days, Schmidt could throw with both hands — and had two gloves until she settled on being a left-handed thrower who bats right.
She also played a variety of other sports, including flag football — she played quarterback — and volleyball.
She learned catcher skills by doing the same drills as Brady: on her knees with a chest protector, helmet and mask as he bounced tennis balls into the dirt in front of her.
Now, having completed one chapter of her high school athletic career when the basketball season ended, Schmidt is nearing the end of another as the lone senior on the softball team.
“I used to play carelessly, being like, ‘Oh, I have five years of this,’” Schmidt said. “I just used to play without thinking. I used to sing songs in my head because I had no pressure, no expectations, and I exceeded those expectations being so young and doing great things.”
She has come a long way since then — even longer since getting those scrapes and bruises while playing basketball on the street in front of her family home, sometimes running inside with tears but always returning for more.
