You can say one thing about Justin Schnyder.

He has remained faithful to his first love.

Schnyder, who recently graduated from East St. John High School, fell in love with baseball when he was just a boy.

He said his aunt used to take him to games to watch his cousins play. Enthralled, he would watch and wait for the day he could be out there, too.

His love began with T-ball and went through coach-pitch.

Then it evolved to travel ball, even as he spent all his weekends and much of his summers on the road.

He had to endure hours of pitching lessons and hitting lessons, running and conditioning drills — all the stuff that’s not so easy to love.

Still he stuck with it.

It was not always a smooth and easy relationship, however.

Like many St. John the Baptist Parish athletes, Schnyder had brief flirtations with basketball and football, back when he was 7 or 8.

“They just weren’t for me,” he said. “I just loved to play baseball.”

Thus Schnyder became a rarity among River Parishes athletes — a one-sport athlete.

Even more telling is that he remained a devoted baseball player at a school not exactly known for its baseball success in recent years.

Once a powerhouse on the diamond — the only Louisiana high school ever to finish a season 28-0 — the Wildcats have not made the playoffs since 2007.

They’ve had two winning seasons since then.

They’ve had six coaches since then.

Still, Schnyder remained faithful, despite the losses, the blowouts, the revolving door on the third base box.

“I hated losing,” he said. “I had to play as a team, but I also had to kind of play for myself to get my stats up. It was tough.”

Still, Schnyder was able to stand out.

As a pitcher he had a 1.83 earned run average and hit .391 on a team that finished 8-19.

He drove in 21 runs and stole 25 bases.

He earned a spot on the coaches’ All-District 7-5A team as well as on L’OBSERVATEUR’s All-St. John team.

He also was chosen by the sports website MaxPreps as the East St. John Player of the Year.

It was enough to earn him a scholarship offer from Grambling State University.

Much to his family’s delight, Schnyder signed a National Letter of Intent July 16 during a ceremony held at Wesley Barrow Stadium in New Orleans, a field that has been refurbished by the MLB Urban Youth Academy in New Orleans, a non-profit organization seeking to foster more diversity in baseball and revitalize urban programs.

For Schnyder, it was a dream come true to sign with Grambling.

An honor student, he plans to study mechanical engineering.

“I always wanted to go to Grambling,” he said. “It’s a good school with a good baseball program. I know it’s far from home, but it’ll be OK. I also plan to break all my uncle’s records.”

Schnyder will follow the footsteps of his coach, “Uncle” Wendell Henderson, a cousin by marriage. Henderson was a standout catcher at Leon Godchaux High School, a 28th round pick in the 1977 draft by the Chicago Cubs.

He elected to play for Grambling State, though, and four years later was drafted by the Cubs again in the 24th round. After a few years in the minor leagues, Henderson returned home to St. John Parish and now coaches at East St. John.

“Baseball is hard,” Henderson said. “You have to really love it to stick with it. He really loves it. He works hard. He puts the time in. He’s very coachable. I’m proud of him. I think he’s going to do OK.”

Lori Lyons is sports editor at L’OBSERVATEUR. She can be reached at 9985-652-9545 or lori.lyons@lobservateur.com.