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As a freshman, Michael Schmiedel hesitated when he had a chance to shine on the golf course or baseball diamond for the Ramstein Royals. He worked on that ahead of his sophomore season to avoid missing similar opportunities. “I was afraid of failure,” Schmiedel said. “My sophomore year, putting in all the work, I realized I was good enough. I just had to trust my game.” His belief in himself led to a major leap in Year 2. Schmiedel won the boys golf individual title last fall, and he followed that with a baseball crown as the Royals’ ace in the spring. He added numerous individual awards, such as first-team All-Europe, all-tournament and the tournament MVP in baseball. Stars and Stripes also named him Athlete of the Year in golf and baseball. For his dominating performances, DODEA-Europe selected Schmiedel as the European Athlete of the Year for the 2025-2026 academic year. Schmiedel said the honor shocked him – and not just because seniors tend to win the award. He plays two sports instead of three, and he has no interest in going out for a third in the winter. “It was really surprising to me,” Schmiedel said. “It puts some pressure on me to feel like I have to perform even higher this year, but I’m very grateful and very thankful.” He also expressed gratitude to his parents, Dirk and Lyndsay Schmiedel, and his coaches, such as baseball assistants Calvin Delp and Tom Yost and golf coach Greg Hewitt, for believing in him when his self-confidence was lacking. He especially praised Yost for his knowledge and ability to connect with his players. “They’re really the reason I persevere so much,” Schmiedel said. “They gave me the opportunities to be more of a leader, to make those mistakes and overall become a better player, person.” The key attribute that contributed to the then-sophomore’s jump was his consistency. He said his coaches hammered into him not to get down when he makes a mistake. That mentality was huge on the golf course, where Schmiedel proved himself to be the best golfer from start to finish. During two qualifying tournaments, Schmiedel posted the highest average score (41) in the modified Stableford scoring system that awards points based off the golfers’ performances on each hole. Then at the European championships at Woodlawn Golf Course on Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Schmiedel led from start to finish with a total of 80 points, nine ahead of teammate Tyler Hacker in second. That was six points and two places better than his freshman year. He said he didn’t try what he called “hero shots.” Instead, he focused on just staying in the fairways and the greens. “The biggest thing is just play boring golf,” Schmiedel said. “Golf is a game of good misses. So, being able to realize that if I can keep this bad shot in play, I’m going to beat all the rest of the guys.” On the baseball diamond, he stepped into Ramstein’s ace role and became the team’s No. 3 hitter. Schmiedel delivered, bringing power highlighted by a stretch of three home runs in three games against Kaiserslautern and Stuttgart in mid- to late April. And he mowed down batter after batter from the mound as well. He was one out away from a complete-game victory over Lakenheath in the final, as Schmiedel hit the pitch-count limit in the top of the fifth inning in the 12-1 victory. The Ramstein coaching staff told Schmiedel he was stepping into the bigger role before the season. So, Schmiedel was prepared for it. “Although it put some pressure, it was an opportunity out there for me to show what I worked on these past couple of years and what coach Delph and what coach Yost had instilled in me,” Schmiedel said. Schmiedel still has two years remaining at Ramstein, and he admitted his success had created a target on his back. That will motivate him to improve his skills even more, although he doesn’t anticipate as much progression as a junior that he had as a sophomore. “If I can continue being consistent, I think the sky’s the limit,” Schmiedel said.