How LSU baseball star Paul Skenes blossomed in high school

BATON ROUGE – At El Toro High School every fall, students, parents, players and coaches always look forward to the Halloween Game.

It's a yearly tradition where players on the baseball team dress up in exotic costumes for an intrasquad scrimmage in front of parents and the student body. Coaches dress up, too.

"We've had Super Mario Brothers, we've had the Teletubbies, we've had princes, kings," El Toro High School baseball coach Michael Gonzales said. "Everything you can think of, all of the different characters and movies and things like that.

"It's pretty cool."

One of Gonzales' favorite costumes over the years came from a name every LSU baseball fan is familiar with: Paul Skenes.

At his senior year Halloween Game, Skenes dressed up as Morris Buttermaker, the beloved fictional baseball coach depicted by Walter Matthau in the film "The Bad News Bears."

"It was actually one of the best costumes we've ever had," Gonzales said. "It probably is the best costume."

Skenes wore a black hat with the bill positioned slightly off to the left side to go along with tan khakis and a polo shirt that was one-half tan and the other half white with pale blue and tan stripes. In his left hand, he held a tin bucket. In his right hand, a crumpled-up paper bag wrapped around a beverage, mimicking the drinking habit Buttermaker has in the film.

But Skenes wasn't the only Charger in on the theme. Four of his friends were decked out in the same uniforms the Little Leaguers wore in "The Bad News Bears" and even had a motorbike as a prop, just like the one Kelly Leak had in the movie.

"Now it's kind of one of the traditions to where everybody wants to have the best costume," Gonzales said.

Meet Paul Skenes in high school: A talented baseball player, an exceptional student and a young man motivated to attend the Air Force Academy. But the future top-10 MLB Draft prospect and Tigers ace was also someone who had plenty of friends and wasn't afraid to have some fun.

Here is his high school story.

Paul Skenes the high school baseball player

Gonzales first met Skenes when he was trying out for the 12-and-under USA national team. He helped organize tryouts for the squad, describing Skenes back then as a miniature version of the athlete he is today.

"He had a great arm and he had great mechanics," Gonzales said.

However, when he got to high school, Skenes wasn't really a pitcher. He was mostly a catcher. And when he got called up to El Toro's varsity team as a sophomore, he also played some third base.

In fact, Skenes didn't start pitching until his junior season when he became the Chargers' closer and only started one game that year, a playoff game in which he threw a seven-inning shutout. El Toro didn't have many catchers who could catch his velocity, hence the need for him to play catcher and not pitch as often.

Even then, because of his obvious arm talent, Gonzales knew that Skenes' future was on the mound.

"(As a recruit) he was more of a hitter first," LSU baseball coach Jay Johnson said. "And the pitching thing... came along later. And when you see guys hit a stride like this at this time, there are bullets that were left in their arm."

During his COVID-19-shortened senior season – according to Gonzales' statistics – Skenes allowed just one earned run in 27 innings pitched, striking out 32 batters. He also excelled at the plate, blasting three home runs en route to a 1.057 on-base plus slugging percentage.

Skenes had the physical build – he was already around 6-foot-6 – and resume – he had a 0.67 ERA as a junior – to get offers from Power Five schools. If it weren't for the pandemic, El Toro Athletic Director Armando Rivas believes Skenes would've gotten drafted and received more interest from those major programs.

"He was a little bit under the radar at that point still," Rivas said.

But, ultimately, Gonzales says it was Skenes' firm commitment to the Air Force that shied away potential suitors.

"It was pretty much a done deal," Gonzales said.

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Paul Skenes the person in high school

Baseball is a popular sport at El Toro. The school has produced multiple major league players, including MLB All-Stars Nolan Arenado and Matt Chapman, and has won two CIF Division I Southern Section Championships.

It's why Rivas often attends practices and sits in the dugout during games. It's also how he got to know Skenes.

"He was a pleasure to be around," Rivas said.

Rivas remembers Skenes as a "smiling and happy-go-lucky," teenager with the same level of politeness and respect for others that allowed him to thrive at the Air Force Academy. Rebecca Clark, a school counselor at El Toro, remembers Skenes similarly.

"Dealing with teenagers, as you might be aware, they can sometimes not be all that positive and upbeat," Clark said. "And that was something that he was definitely: positive and upbeat."

Even in high school, Skenes had a streak of maturity that Gonzales believes was "beyond his years." When Skenes played under him, Gonzales remembers a player who wasn't just coachable but also a clear leader on the team.

It was this side of him that in part drove his interest in serving his country and attending Air Force.

"He loves the Air Force, he loves the academy, he loves our country," Gonzales said. "They're respectful of the flag and everything else. This has been ingrained in him.

"This is really what he wanted to do out of high school, there's really (were) no other options for him to go."

Gonzales and Skenes are still close and communicate often, even as his former star player has moved on from Air Force to LSU. And given his prior relationship with Johnson when he was the coach at Arizona and San Diego, Gonzales knows his former star player is in good hands in Baton Rouge.

Skenes, of course, has also blossomed on and off the field at LSU. He has a 1.14 ERA in eight starts, with 91 strikeouts in 47.1 innings pitched. And in the locker room, Johnson credits his background with the Air Force as a driving reason behind why he immediately became a leader for LSU.

But for Skenes, even if the Air Force shaped him for the better, it all started at El Toro.

"He stuck out," Rivas said. "And our baseball program, like I said, they're very popular with all the kids. So he was just a leader on campus."

Koki Riley covers LSU sports for The Daily Advertiser and the USA TODAY Sports South Region. Email him at kriley@theadvertiser.com and follow him on Twitter at @KokiRiley.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Paul Skenes: Explaining the LSU baseball star's high school story