KENOSHA, Wis. – Augie Schmidt IV has been the head coach of the Carthage College Red Men baseball team for the past 30 years.  For the past nine years however, Schmidt has been working alongside a passion project of his.  The development of his nephew, Gavin Lux.
 
Since he was nine years old, Lux has been around his uncle's program.  Not because the head coach made him.  But because he wanted to be. 
 
"I worked with him everyday that he wanted me to whether it was outside at the field or inside at the McNamara Indoor Baseball and Softball Facility.  Never once because I asked him if he wanted to."  Schmidt continued, "That was my rule.  It wasn't me forcing him.  It wasn't me living though him.  He wanted it and I was lucky enough that I got to help him do it."
 
There is no doubt that both have recognized the unique opportunity that has been presented to Gavin with Augie at the helm of the Red Men.  "He may have had the extra benefit of his uncle being a college coach," said Schmidt, " allowing him the opportunity for his skills to become a little more polished than most kids would have.  But he was the one that was dragging me out there to throw him pitches and hit him ground balls.  You can't teach that kind of drive in a kid!"
 
Starting when he was young, Schmidt implemented a mentor program for Gavin.
 
"He was around my guys and on the same field with them from a young age," said Schmidt.  "I had to set up a program where, since he wanted to be there and the guys wanted him there, he would be with a different guy every year.  I remember the first few guys that I had mentor him.  He cried when they graduated and were gone.  I had to tell him "Don't worry! There will be another guy next year."  And as he got older it got to a point where there wasn't a mentor for him.  He would just come to Carthage and it became as though he was part of the facility.  He really has grown up here."
 
While he will not suit up for the Red Men, he is viewed by many around the program just as much a part of it.  "Our players and coaches loved working with him and working out along side him," stated Schmidt.  "It's been a great experience for me, besides the fact he is my nephew, to watch him develop the way he has over the years right in front of our eyes at Carthage."
 
Lux, a senior at Indian Trail Academy, has been highly coveted as one of the best MLB prospects in this year's draft class.  After signing his national letter of intent with baseball powerhouse Arizona State University in early 2016, Schmidt and Lux didn't slow honing his skill.
 
"Over the last year or so, the biggest thing was his signing with Arizona State, which is one of the top baseball programs in the country.  That was huge.  And it doesn't feel like it was that long ago since that big celebration," Schmidt reminisced.
 
A top-50 high school prospect heading into the winter of his senior year, Schmidt and MLB saw more to the 6'1", 180-pound shortstop who is regarded as the top infielder in the region.  "Going into this fall and into the winter I believed, and I think a lot of the big league scouts believed, college was the route he was going to take, said Schmidt.  "So today is a culmination of how the last five months have really blown up.  To the point where if he gets drafted high enough he will have to make a decision between Arizona State and a team."
 
Thursday afternoon, Schmidt and Lux returned to Augie Schmidt Field for another session.  This time it wasn't to tone his skills, but to clear his mind heading into draft night.  "He got out there today and crushed some balls and it was quite a hitting performance.  Here we are today, the day of the draft, and we are hitting out there having as much fun today as when he was nine," said Schmidt.  "I tell everyone it is the Gavin Lux Storyand I am just proud to be part of it.  What we have been able to do here, and the work we have put in together, it has just been a ton of fun for me!  Now to see him get drafted, I am a proud uncle more than a proud coach or mentor."
 
Lux and Schmidt saw that dream come to fruition Thursday night.  After nearly two hours sitting inside the house of Carthage College Athletic Hall of Famer Craig Deaton, surrounded by mostly friends and teammates, Lux emerged onto the back patio to get a breath of fresh air with family, coaches, and friends of the family. 
 
He sat down next to whom else, his uncle.
 
Not five minutes later, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred called Lux's name, as he was taken with the 20th overall pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers. 
 
Schmidt closed with, "That's the story.  What people don't see are the summer days where it is just the two of us on the field by ourselves with 200 baseballs and some buckets.  It's just me and him out there and I've loved it.  I know how bad he wants it and I know how bad he has worked for it.  But he is the one who took advantage of the opportunities and benefits provided to him through me working here and it has been awesome."