Alex Miller
Amid the long days and decisions Texas A&M baseball coach Michael Earley had to make when he was hired as the Aggies' new head skipper last July, there was one decision that was easy and quick for him to make: Name senior Hayden Schott the player who would wear the team's coveted No. 12 jersey in 2025.
"It's a really hard thing to appreciate when it happens," Schott said. "When it got released and I kind of heard the response and what it meant to some people the fact that it was me, that was so cool because it's really hard to see from an inward perspective. It's been overwhelming in the best possible way. I'm just really grateful that I've been here a little over a year and that response I got and how much I care for this university, and it seems like people care for this university. It's been pretty dang awesome."
When Earley got the job, he talked with some within the program about who should wear No. 12 and Schott's name often came up in conversation. The decision was easy. Earley delivered the news to Schott over a phone call.
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"The 12th Man here, you could talk for days about the importance of it and how special it is," Earley said. "You want someone that embodies that and wants to be here and loves the university and does all those things and Hayden Schott is that as much as any player I've ever coached, as far as team-first type of mentality."
Yet, Schott being the next No. 12 stayed a secret for months. It wasn't officially announced until the team's social media account made a post last Friday. There was no grand reveal, only subtle clues, like Schott posting a picture of his new glove that had the #12 on it to social media. Schott said he and Earley were on the same page that the honor wasn't supposed to be about him.
"The whole reveal and everything, that wasn't really in the cards because we didn't want to make it a whole one-person thing because it's really a whole team thing," Schott said. "There's a reason that I said, and he probably said the same thing, there's a lot of guys in that locker room that could wear it and represent the school in that way, so I think the goal is to not make it a huge deal and to understand the value and meaning behind it, but not make it about one person. It's about the number on the back, not the person who's wearing it."
Few are surprised that Schott was the chosen one, though. He's entering just his second season at A&M as a graduate transfer, but his impact as a leader on and off the field helped the Aggies reach the College World Series finals. Schott wielded his humor into becoming a team leader and backed up his goofy personality by leading the team in batting average (.335) and hits (88).
"I think when you ask people about A&M, that's one of the first things they tell you is you feel at home right away," Schott said. "I think I felt that within the first week. I think that is one reason why I've been so acclimated to it. I love being around people. I love being around like-minded people who want to win and want to win in the right way, people who like school and like sports. Everything about the spirit of Aggieland has been super similar to my values, so I think that's helped a lot with me get acclimated to this place."
Schott's journey to Aggieland has been much different than most. A native of Newport Beach, Calif., he went to Culver Military Academy in Indiana, a Northeastern-style boarding school. With no scholarship offers out of high school, he played at Cypress College in 2019 before he transferred to Columbia. But the Lions' 2020 and 2021 seasons were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, so he didn't return to the diamond until 2022. He became an All-Ivy League player in his second season at Columbia.
"It's been a really weird journey," Schott said. "Not one that I think anyone will ever replicate quite like I have, but it's my way of being really grateful."
When Schott got to A&M last fall, it didn't take long for him to break the ice with his teammates and become a leader of shenanigans.
Schott spearheaded weekly "fungo golf" games with teammates that he complied into videos shared to social media. He often poked fun at teammates on social media after their big performances, especially A&M's standout outfielder Jace LaViolette. His walk-up song was George Michael's "Careless Whisper," which he said will return this spring. Schott brought the "Rattlin' Bog" to Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park during the middle of the season as the Aggies' home run anthem that's become a fan favorite. He hosted a podcast called "Down in the Valley", last fall where he brought teammates on and often ad-libbed for half an hour.
"I think I'm very people-oriented and others-oriented with how I go about just about everything in my life," Schott said. "I think that helps initially, but breaking the ice has never been a problem for me. If I meet someone out, I usually know about them and am friends with them in about three minutes. That's just something I've always been good at."
The thing Schott says explains his life since moving to College Station the best, though, is how he officiated a wedding for two A&M graduates -- Justin Strayer and Courtney Vandiver -- last December.
"I think that I always wanted to check that off my list, but I always thought it would be my best friend or something, not two people who like watching me play baseball," Schott said.
Amid all the fun and games, Schott's seriousness comes out in the dugout and on the field. He said that his star teammates, like LaViolette or sophomore third baseman Gavin Grahovac, sharing the same team-oriented approach helps him do the same.
"Everyone knows my fun and happy-go-lucky personality because they're never in a dugout in a game with me," Schott said. "No one's there when it's not all fun and games and we're down by two in the eighth inning and we're not sitting there singing 'Rattlin' Bog.' We're sitting there rooting for the other person and doing whatever we can to help whoever's hitting, whoever's pitching, whatever it is. If anyone's not, that's where they know I'll step in, so I think everyone understands what I stand for, what we stand for."
Teammate Ryan Prager, A&M's ace left-handed pitcher, said Schott's competitive nature is extremely team-oriented.
"It's very rare that I've seen a guy that can kind of like him where he legitimately cares zero about his individual stats and his individual performance and it is all team," Prager said. "I think we had a lot of guys like that last year because that was kind of a team thought and I hope that carries over into this year. He can go 0 for 4 and look terrible one day, but if we win the game 8-5, he is as happy as can be and that's really cool. I think sometimes people see all the fun and they forget that the guy hit like .350 in the SEC last year, so he's a really good player as well."
Schott showed his willingness to be a team-first player when he played through a torn meniscus for the last three months of the season. He moved from left field to designated hitter for the final 45 games, but started in all 68. Schott had surgery after the season and missed all of fall ball. He joked that his marketability for name, image and likeness deals have increased since he played more video games than a 13-year-old boy who just discovered Fortnite during his recovery, but added the injury was worth playing through.
"The biggest thing is I just wanted to be out there," Schott said. "It was a little boring, but, I mean, that's the beauty of baseball is once summer and fall comes around, especially if you've played as long as I have in college, it's not the worst thing in the world to take some time off just to reset mentally and physically."
Last year was expected to be Schott's last season of college baseball, but he was able to use another year of eligibility for 2025. He said being a part of a team is the greatest thing in the world. Schott has become the ringleader in the A&M clubhouse. Now, he and his teammates hope they can keep winning games as one of the nation's preseason favorites. He'll be doing it with the No. 12 on his back.
"Obviously, coming up one game short is, I'd like to say I expected that last year to make it to the national championship game, but it takes a lot of luck to get to that game," Schott said. "It's baseball. It's a hard game and stuff happens. Now that we've gotten to that point, the only thing left to do is win the last game of the year, so that's what we're trying to do."
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