Schmidt will pitch for D-3 Bethel

By Casey Krautkramer

It was a momentous day last Wednesday for Stratford senior pitcher Brady Schmidt when he signed his letter of intent to play college baseball at Division 3 Bethel University. Bethel is a private Christian college located in the St. Paul, Minn. suburb of Arden Hills.

Schmidt chose to play for the Bethel University because it has a great baseball program and strong academics. He was one of six Stratford class of 2024 valedictorians and he plans to major in mathematics at Bethel University because he absolutely loves dealing with numbers.

The Royals won the Division 3 college baseball championship in 2018 under current head coach Brian Raabe, who has a 299-157 record at the university.

Schmidt currently has an arsenal of four different pitches that he throws including the fastball, changeup, knuckle curve and slider.

“I love pitching so much,” he said. “I love changing the speed of my pitches to make it tougher on hitters.”

Schmidt said he’s “blessed” to have so much support from his baseball family, especially his father Curt Schmidt and his older brother Chandler Schmidt who graduated this spring from Winona St. University after pitching for the Division 2 Warriors. Brady Schmidt said he’s also been fortunate to have Stratford varsity pitching coach Drew Spaeth help him with his pitches. Spaeth pitched for Division 3 UW-Stevens Point and the Wisconsin Woodchucks in Wausau.

SCHMIDT SIGNS COLLEGE BASEBALL LETTER OF INTENT- Stratford senior pitcher Brady Schmidt held his college baseball signing ceremony last Wednesay at Stratford High School. He was joined by his sophomore sister, Gracie Schmidt and parents Missy and Curt Schmidt. His older brother, Chandler Schmidt, is not pictured.

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