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Prep Baseball Coach of the Year: Brad Bass, Catholic BR

July 18, 2024
By Maddox Durst
Staff Writer

Head coach Brad Bass of Catholic High School in Baton Rouge, La. has been announced as the 2024 Prep Baseball Coach of the Year – marking his name as the first-ever awardee to take home the honor.

It was well warranted for one of the top programs in the United States, as the Bears finished their season with an impressive 38-2 record, capped off by a LHSAA Division I State Championship under the helm of Bass.

Before his time at Catholic, he had coached at False River Academy between 2009 and 2011, a 1A school located on the banks of the Mississippi River, north of his home now in Baton Rouge. It was there where he got his first taste of coaching, and the recognition, accolades that come with it.

“I remember thinking how cool that must be to have that respect amongst your peers,” Bass said about a fellow coach winning a district coach of the year award that night. “To be able to do it on a nationwide level is more than I ever could have thought of, it’s been insane.”

Thirteen years later, Bass hosted a plethora of talent within his program this season, a similar theme with years prior at Catholic. Aaron Nola, Class of 2011, played as a Bear back in the day, earning a state championship with the team back in 2010.

That was before Bass’ time donning the black and orange though, yet the flow of talent up and down the roster has remained pretty similar.

Names such as RHP William Schmidt (2024; LSU commit) and INF Jack Ruckert (2025; LSU) are just a few recent examples of the skill set at the forefront of baseball at Catholic. Coaches throughout the United States can be presented with similar rosters, but the journey and mindset of this unit is what separated Bass and his staff from the rest.

The first goal in mind, after multiple years of success in a row, was answering the question amongst Bass’ coaching staff: How can they be a national champion?

To start, Catholic was tasked with one of the most difficult schedules from a nationwide perspective. They traveled around the Pelican State of course, but the group also ventured out of state, seeking the best competition they could find.

“We knew it was going to be brutal, we knew it was going to be tough,” Bass said on his team’s 2024 schedule. “These guys just showed up one day at a time and we just played the next game.”

Then it was about the mentality. Success starts with embracing the game with the right mindset, a key characteristic that Bass learned about through his experiences as a college baseball player. Bass was a catcher at Louisiana State University from 2003 to 2005, fresh off of one season at Southern University, where he led the program to a Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship.

Bass took in what he enjoyed about his playing days, and applied it to one of the most successful programs in the nation.

He did it through the use of acronyms, beginning with F.A.M.I.L.Y., which spells out: "Forget About Me, I Love You."

Building relationships has been one of the main aspects of coaching that Bass has focused on. In a new age of baseball, that proves to be effective. Bass talked on an old school coaching mentality, and how players don’t necessarily respond the same way today.

It was summarized pretty simply: “The one thing I never want to do is get to a place where I can’t relate,” Bass said.

The next acronym was F.U.N., or: "Forget Unrealistic Narratives."

Expectations were high for the Bears in 2024, ranked as the No. 1 team in Prep Baseball Louisiana’s Power 25 during the preseason – and they debuted at No. 10 on the first edition of the Prep Baseball National HS Rankings at the start of the spring too. The length of the high school baseball season can lead to a dip in effort and attention to detail at times, but that wasn’t the case for Catholic, as they continued to stack wins throughout the year while playing their style of baseball. While the players executed on the diamond, coaches throughout the Bears’ program emphasized the importance of taking the time to understand their roles in helping their players succeed.

“Our job isn’t to motivate,” Bass said about a coach’s role. “Our job is to assist them in motivating themselves.”

It wound up paying off during the 2024 season, as the Bears secured a state championship and vaulted themselves up into the conversation as the very best team in the entire country. They were actually the No. 1-ranked team on our natioal board in mid-March too, outpaced only by an historically good SoCal squad, Corona HS (CA), which wound up being the lone team ranked above Catholic on the final edition of our National HS Rankings.

While it was a team effort, their pitching staff was lights out all season long – including when it mattered most for Catholic. The arms only allowed three runs during their playoff stretch, summarizing an elite 2024 on the bump for the Bears.

Schmidt led the charge with an electric fastball and advanced secondary pitches, emerging as a true ace en route to his Prep Baseball Louisiana Player of the Year award, as well as a spot on the national All-Prep Baseball Team as the roster's ace.

“William [Schmidt] did such an incredible job at being the ace, but he elevated the people around him,” Bass said.

That proved to be a difference-maker for Catholic and Bass, as names such as RHP Trip Dobson III (2024; Louisiana-Lafayette), RHP Ryder Loup (2024; Loyola, LA) and many others stepped up to dominate the spring competition.

The group won their final game of the season by authoring yet another shutout, 5-0, in the DI title game – illustrating the year-long dominance this pitching staff put together throughout 2024.

“The job that our pitching staff did was unbelievable,” Bass said.

The senior arms, in addition to the numerous bats in this program, set the foundation for more success in the near future.

Catholic’s mindset as a program, emphasizing their use of F.A.M.I.L.Y. and F.U.N., has kept Bass young during his coaching career, as he joked.

“Empowering them to want to do things and telling them why it’s important, and understanding that it’s a partnership… and go have a blast while doing it,” Bass said, on what he wants each of his players to gain from his coaching.

Despite losing many of those star seniors, the Bears remain a perennial powerhouse program not only in Louisiana, but in the country. They’re led by this cohesive coaching staff and players who are prepared to execute their game plan at the highest level – priming them for success down the road.

“What an incredible ride, man, a true testament to unbelievable players and assistant coaches,” Bass said.

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