Vernon Hills' 300-win milestone resonates with Czarnecki

Every milestone hit by the Vernon Hills baseball program impacts head coach Jay Czarnecki very personally.

He's been around for all of them so far.

Vernon Hills is in its 15th year as a school and Czarnecki is the only head varsity baseball coach the Cougars have ever known.

Last weekend, in a victory over Elmwood Park, Vernon Hills got its 300th win as a program.

"Being there from Day One, I've seen a lot of good things," Czarnecki said. "This was another one that was pretty cool."

Every year before the season starts, Czarnecki updates the team's record books, so he knew that the Cougars would likely hit the 300-win mark at some point around the halfway point of the season.

"I got home after that win over Elmwood Park and walked into my office at home and caught a glimpse of a picture I have of our very first win," Czarnecki said. "That triggered my memory that (the Elmwood Park win) could have been our 300th win. I looked it up, and sure enough, it was."

The first win in program history for Vernon Hills came in the spring of 2001 against Downers Grove South.

Seeing that picture in his office, thinking about the 299 wins since then, makes Czarnecki reminisce about all the players who have had a hand in building the program, particularly the notable ones.

Jason Newburger, an assistant baseball coach at Barrington now, comes to mind as the first big name in the program.

A member of Vernon Hills' inaugural graduating class in 2002, Newburger was an all-state selection in multiple sports and wound up playing baseball in college at Bradley. He was a third baseman.

"Jason was one of the first guys to text me when he found out about the 300th win," Czarnecki said. "People called him 'the Mayor' around here. He was a natural leader and meant so much to us as we were starting things here. He's one of the first guys to come back and coach in our program."

Another early star at Vernon Hills was pitcher Jason Acevedo. He graduated two years after Newburger and was the program's first four-year varsity starter. He was an all-American at Carthage College and is heavily involved now in baseball training at Slammers.

In 2007, pitcher Brad Schnitzer helped Vernon Hills win its one and only North Suburban Conference championship. He threw a one-hitter in the title game against Lake Division champion Lake Zurich. That Vernon Hills teams stands today as the only Prairie Division team to win the NSC championship game.

Most recently catcher Chris Marras, the second four-year varsity starter in program history and a starter now at Butler, helped Vernon Hills to its first and only 30-win season in 2012. That year, the Cougars also made their first sectional final appearance. They are still looking for their first sectional championship.

"That's the hump we're trying to get over now, that sectional final," Czarnecki said. "We've had a lot of good years and we're just trying to keep growing it."

Next man up:

Losing a top infielder and hitter, along with a top pitcher, is never good news.

That's what Vernon Hills lost in infielder Tommy Earhart and pitcher Brian Schrimmer. Both are out this season due to injury.

But the Cougars are finding a way to win games with some unlikely heroes. Players who weren't expected to be key contributors until perhaps next season are stepping up now.

"We had lost a lot of seniors to begin with from last year's team and now you take those two guys (Earhart and Schrimmer) out of the equation and that was tough," Vernon Hills coach Jay Czarnecki said. "But we're pretty excited because we're starting to see some young talent break through."

Junior first baseman Chris Kahn, who was struggling with his bat last summer, is starting to hit. Sophomore Brennan Reback is getting more comfortable and now shining in the outfield.

Junior pitchers Sam Perlin and Brendan Keogh and sophomore pitcher Andrew Smith are getting more innings than they bargained for, but are adapting and even thriving. Smith oversaw a comeback win over Grayslake Central earlier this season.

"Some of these kids didn't have much or any varsity time coming into the season and they've done a really good job," Czarnecki said.

So close:

It doesn't get much closer.

Libertyville pitcher Jack Shanahan just missed on a perfect game last week.

He hit the leadoff batter of the game with a pitch which took that off the table right away. But then he got as stingy as could be and seemed to be on his way to a near-perfect game, and in the very least, a no-hitter. With two outs in the seventh inning against Evanston, Shanahan hadn't allowed any hits, nor had he issued any walks.

But then, an Evanston batter hit a solo home run to put an end to Shanahan's hope for a no-hitter. Libertyville still won the game, though.

"He handled it really well," Libertyville coach Jim Schurr said of Shanahan, a senior. "He was disappointed. But he was coming off a tough outing so I think he was just happy to prove that this was the kind of pitcher he really was. He didn't get the no-no, but I think he saw the game as a real step forward."

Shanahan had 7 strikeouts on the day.

Surprise, surprise:

Listed as an outfielder on preseason scouting reports, junior Ben Graff has emerged as one of Round Lake's top pitchers.

He's taken the coaching staff at Round Lake by surprise.

"The way he's playing has been a little unexpected," Round Lake coach Ed Adamson said. "He's very athletic but this is Ben's first year of playing baseball. He's very raw. He's still learning the game and working on his mechanics.

"But he can throw two pitches for strikes and he's doing a really nice job for us."

Adamson says he's worked with a lot of first-year juniors in recent years because Round Lake didn't have a freshman team. That left nowhere to go for younger kids at school who wanted to try baseball and learn the game.

"We've had only two levels (varsity and sophomore) for the last five or six years now," Adamson said. "But now we have a freshman team, and I think that's really going to help us. We'll have kids playing four years of baseball and that will help make our varsity team more competitive."

Right on:

Normally an outfielder or first baseman, Tyler Sanchez is now behind the plate for Round Lake.

He volunteered to be the team's catcher because he knew the coaches were having a hard time filling the spot. The Panthers tried four other catchers at the spot and weren't having much luck finding the right one.

"He's head and shoulders our best catcher," Round Lake coach Ed Adamson said of Sanchez. "It's just a little weird having him there."

And it's not because Sanchez doesn't belong, or because he is better elsewhere. Sanchez just doesn't fit the description of your standard catcher.

Sanchez is a lefty.

"You don't see many left-handed catchers," Adamson said. "In the last five years, I bet I've seen one or two left-handed catchers. It's just kind of against the norm, mostly because it's hard to make that throw down to third base with a right-handed batter. The umps aren't used to it. There's just something about the position where being left-handed doesn't flow.

"But Tyler is doing a great job. He does all the little things right. He's smart back there, he's got a good arm, he blocks the ball well."

Sanchez actually played catcher as a kid, and is using all of his own equipment now. He will be playing baseball next year at Aurora University but will likely be used as an outfielder.

"He's got a great mentality for catching, but he can make a difference anywhere," Adamson said of Sanchez. "He just wants to compete. It's been great for us, because we've needed his leadership. If you don't have a good catcher, it's hard to compete."