Ryan Schmidt
Ryan Schmidt
Ryan Schmidt took over as the head baseball coach at Pratt Community College on January 3, 2008. He is entering his fifth season at the Beavers’ skipper. Schmidt is known for his expertise in developing pitchers and recruiting the state of Kansas. “I am excited about the opportunity that the administration has offered me here at Pratt. I am excited about building a strong tradition within the Beaver baseball program.”
While at Pratt, Schmidt has mentored six all-conference players including, pitcher Marco Quevedo, first baseman Ryan Laing, third baseman Joe Kornbrust, first baseman Trey DeRouen, second baseman Matt Burns, and pitcher Junior Mustian. Laing was also selected to the All-Region VI team and was named an Honorable Mention All-American. Coach Schmidt takes great pride in his players moving on to play at the next level. In his three years at the helm, he has helped six Pratt players move on to play NCAA Division One baseball, as well as other players that have moved on to succeed at top-tier Division Two and NAIA programs all across the country.
Coach Schmidt's goal for each player entering the PCC baseball program is to graduate with an associate's degree from PCC. In the spring of 2011, ten members of the Pratt Community College baseball team graduated from PCC. In the fall of 2010, the baseball team's GPA was over 3.0, including five players finishing with perfect 4.0 GPAs. Also, in the spring of 2011, the baseball team’s GPA was over 3.1, again including five players with a perfect 4.0 GPAs.
Schmidt started his career as the pitching coach at Fort Hays State University under Bob Fornelli. In his first season, he helped lead the team to a first place RMAC regular season championship along with a RMAC tournament championship. The Tigers were selected to host the West Regional, where they ended their season. Schmidt coached Landon Harper who signed with the Detroit Tigers as a free agent.
After two years at Fort Hays State, Schmidt took over as the pitching coach at Barton County Community College. He played at Barton County in 1997-1998 and came back to coach with Mike Warren. Schmidt helped guide the Cougars pitching staffs to successful seasons on and off the field. His teams were consistently ranked in the top four of the Jayhawk Conference in academic achievement. On the field, the Cougars took 5th place in his first season, 3rd place in his second season and had the 3rd best record in his third season. Schmidt is known for developing Chad Lee and Nathan Hedrick who were both undrafted out of high school. Chad Lee was selected in the fourth round by the Oakland Athletics in the 2006 Major League Baseball amateur draft. In the same year, Nathan Hedrick was selected in the 8th round by the New York Mets.
Schmidt worked for the Kansas City Sluggers for four summers where he helped high school elite teams to national success. He played at Barton County Community College where he was selected as a Western Conference All Star and named first team all conference for his efforts as a sophomore. Schmidt finished his playing career at the University of Kansas. He was named an All-Big 12 academic performer as a senior and was awarded the Ron MacDonald coaches award as a junior. Ryan Schmidt resides in Pratt with his wife Melissa and their two sons Owen (5) and Josiah (3), and their daughter Ellie (1).
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