KENOSHA - Augie Schmidt IV, a Carthage College legend and the driving force behind the Carthage baseball program for nearly four decades, announced he will retire after the 2025 season. Assistant coach John Lequia '09 will succeed Schmidt as head coach.
With Carthage in his blood, Schmidt holds a remarkable 1002-551-5 record entering his 38th and final season. Last season, he became the fourth active NCAA Division III coach — and the 22nd active coach across all divisions — to reach the 1,000 career win milestone.
Going into his 38th year, Schmidt's teams have claimed nine CCIW titles and 16 NCAA regional berths, including nine straight from 1992 to 2000. Carthage has secured six regional titles, highlighted by third-place finishes in the 1993 and 1994 NCAA championships.
"I can't believe how lucky I've been to be the head baseball coach at Carthage College for the last 38 years," commented Augie Schmidt. "I've said it before: Carthage has done so much more for me than I've done for it. My career at Carthage has allowed me to work with so many amazing people over the years — administrators, assistant coaches, and especially the players — without whom none of our success would have been possible.
Of his successor, who will start the 2026 season as head coach, Schmidt said, "I'm really excited to turn the baseball program over to John Lequia. He's a Carthage guy through and through, played and coached here for the last 15 years. He's going to do a great job and I look forward to supporting him in the coming years."
"Lastly, I'd like to thank my wife, Michele, and daughter Chelsea for all of their support and sacrifices," Schmidt continued. "They have allowed me to have so much fun doing what I truly love to do."
For his contributions, Schmidt has been named American Baseball Coaches Association/Diamond Sports Regional Coach Of The Year nine times and CCIW Coach of the Year on 10 occasions, winning the ABCA/Louisville Slugger Conference Award seven times. He was inducted into the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2013 and the ABCA Hall of Fame in 2014.
Under Schmidt's guidance, Carthage baseball has produced 26 ABCA All-America selections, 51 all-region selections, and 11 CCIW Players of the Year. Twelve of Schmidt's former players have been inducted into the Carthage Athletic Hall of Fame.
"Coach Schmidt has been the heart and soul of our baseball program for nearly four decades. His commitment to excellence, passion for the game, and dedication to shaping young student-athletes into not only great players but exceptional individuals has left a lasting legacy," said Carthage Director of Athletics Ryan Kane. "We are forever grateful for his leadership and the countless lives he has positively impacted. His presence on and off the field will be deeply missed, but his influence will remain part of our program's foundation for years to come."
A native of Kenosha and a 1979 graduate of Bradford High School, Schmidt was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the ninth round of that year's Major League Baseball draft. He opted to play collegiate ball at the University of New Orleans, where he was a three-year starter at shortstop.
In his junior year in 1982, he was named a first-team All-American by the American Baseball Coaches Association and Baseball America. The United States Baseball Federation honored him with the Golden Spikes Award as amateur baseball's player of the year. The university later inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2023.
The Toronto Blue Jays selected Schmidt as the second overall pick in the 1982 major league draft. He retired as an active player midway through the 1986 season and joined the Carthage coaching staff in 1987, becoming head coach in 1988.
Last season, the Firebirds finished 23-19 while producing the new career strikeout leader, Bryce Schaum. They returned to the CCIW Tournament for the first time since 2021, defeating No. 3 seed Illinois Wesleyan in the first round.
Lequia begins his ninth year as a full-time Carthage assistant coach in 2025. Since joining the program in 2009 as a part-time assistant, Lequia has also coached and instructed players ranging from 12 to 22 years old at Hitters Baseball Academy in nearby Caledonia, focusing on hitting and high-level athletic performance.
A native of Racine, Wisconsin, Lequia attended Bradley University for three years before transferring to Carthage for his senior season. He was named second-team All-Central Region and second-team All-CCIW in 2009, graduating from Carthage with a bachelor's degree in secondary education.