How sweet it finally is for Evans, Witt
The proof is in the peanut butter cups.
If Lake Zurich baseball coach Gary Simon didn't know already that he has an incredibly balanced team this season, all he'd have to do is go back and list the recipients of his coveted peanut butter cups.
That's Simon's reward system. Peanut butter cups go to the player of the game.
"Someone new is always getting the peanut butter cups," said Lake Zurich senior pitcher Chas Evans. "That's what's great about this team. We have someone different stepping up each game."
Tyler Schmitz, Sam Aslan, Mike Miller, Austin Cox, Ricky Erickson, Parker Asmann, Logan Matthews, Tanner Witt and Evans - they, among others, have all come up big for the Bears throughout the season.
Add it all up and, together, the sum of the parts has put Lake Zurich (19-8-1) on the verge of something even bigger.
Heading into the weekend, the Bears sat atop the brutally competitive North Suburban Lake Division by 1 game. A two-game series with Stevenson on Monday and Tuesday will decide the champion.
A championship for Lake Zurich would be its third in a row. Not bad for a team that had "rebuilding year" written all over it.
The Bears lost all nine starters from last season.
"We've just had so many guys get the job done this year," Simon said. "Now, our destiny is in our own hands. This is really a special group."
Among the most special are Evans and Witt.
For as much as this season has been about the successes of many, Evans and Witt have also managed to stand out individually.
Evans is both the team's leading hitter and its best pitcher.
He boasts a team-best .404 batting average with 20 RBI and a team-high 6 home runs. On the mound, Evans owns a 7-0 record and a 1.19 earned run average.
He averages 11.4 strikeouts per game and has a no-hitter (against Zion-Benton in April) to his credit.
With a .326 average, Witt is one of the top hitters on the team. He's driven in 24 runs and smacked 3 homers.
Witt can pitch, catch and do just about anything the Bears need. But he's been most effective as the anchor of the defense at shortstop.
"Those two guys are our leaders," Simon said of Evans and Witt. "They're both kind of quiet, so they're quiet leaders. But they're our leaders. Guys on our team want to be like them."
Well, now they do.
But Evans and Witt haven't always had it so good.
Shouldering a load
When Witt fires a pitch 88 miles per hour, it hardly seems possible that just one year ago, he spent a good part of his spring in a hospital bed.
While lifting weights during an early-season practice, Witt noticed that his right arm was swelling and turning purple. He went to the hospital and after much poking, prodding and testing, doctors determined that he had a life-threatening blood clot in his shoulder that needed immediate attention.
An unusual amount of crowding in the area had caused veins in his shoulder to constrict, and surgery was needed to rearrange the area to create more space.
Witt was in surgery for 12 hours, and in recovery for much longer. He missed the rest of the season, a campaign in which he was hoping to impress recruiters and land a scholarship offer.
"It was so tough to sit out and just watch what is really your most important season," Witt said. "I was angry that it happened to me. The timing couldn't have been worse. The day I went into the hospital, the University of Texas called and wanted to come see me play. I had to tell them what happened and that I would be out for the season.
"I was born in Dallas and it's always been a dream to play at Texas. That was really disappointing."
It would be a long, sobering road from there.
After the surgery, it took three months before Witt could resume any type of strenuous physical activity. The idle time drove him crazy.
"I definitely didn't show much patience back then," Witt said. "I remember right after my surgery it just seemed like the day I'd be able to play again was never going to come. It felt so far away."
Well, it got here. In fact, Witt was even able to play football last fall. Quarterback of all things.
"I think being able to play football gave me a lot of confidence," Witt said. "It got me back into shape and it just made me feel like everything was back to normal. I think it made the (recruiters) feel better, too. I think they saw that if I was playing football, I must be OK."
Witt recently returned from a recruiting trip to Michigan. He says that Kansas State and Evansville are interested and that even Texas might be back in the mix.
He's put up the numbers this season to merit a good look from schools of that caliber. Plus, his resolve and determination have probably caught a few eyes as well.
"I'm definitely a stronger person because of all this," Witt said. "I don't know anyone else who's been through what I've been through. It was tough.
"I'm just really happy that I'm back. It's such a good feeling to be playing and I'm never going to take that for granted."
A long time coming
Before this season, it would have been tough to assemble a resume for Evans. Baseball-wise anyway.
In becoming Lake Zurich's ace, Evans hasn't exactly ridden the fast track.
As a freshman, Evans tore up his left knee and missed all of basketball season. Just as baseball was starting, he did the same exact thing to his right knee. He was out three months and that season was gone, too.
Then, that summer, he injured his left knee again and that put his sophomore year off to a slow start. He wound up pitching for the sophomore team every four to five games.
Last year, Evans stayed healthy, but his playing time was limited for other reasons. Also a third baseman, he was playing behind superstar Joey DeBernardis, who is now on the team at Penn State.
"Joey was amazing. It would have been tough to beat out someone like him," Evans said. "So I didn't play a lot. It was hard to get playing time. Coming into this year, the coaches still really didn't even know me or what kind of player I am."
They know now.
Evans really opened some eyes when he pitched a no-hit shutout against Zion-Benton last month, the first no-hitter of his career.
"It was pretty exciting," Evans said. "Before that, I had two no-hitters going into the four or fifth innings and I gave up a hit both times. But against Zion-Benton, something just felt different inside of me. I just felt really confident, and coach even told me after the game that it seemed like I was throwing harder in the seventh inning than I did in the first. I was just really focused on every pitch."
Speaking of his pitches, Evans has added a new one to his arsenal. Whereas many high school pitchers stick with the standard fastball, curveball and changeup, Evans can pick from four pitches.
"I'm also throwing a cutter now," Evans said. "It's a strikeout pitch and I really like it. It's slower than a fastball, but it drops more."
Combined with all the hard work he put in during the off-season, having more options on the mound has made it possible for Evans to go from relative obscurity to one of the top pitchers in the North Suburban Conference.
"I worked pretty hard (last summer) with my travel coach to get in shape and really work on my pitches and location," Evans said. "I just really wanted to have a good senior year. I wanted to show people that even though I hadn't played much in the past, I could contribute to the team."
And now it's possible Evans might get to contribute to a college team.
Based on his past, or lack thereof, Evans was content to simply attend the University of Illinois next year as a student. The idea of playing baseball there, or anywhere for that matter, really wasn't on his radar.
But this season has changed things a bit.
"I've never been one to be worried about trying to get to play in college," Witt said. "I never really any reason to think I'd be good enough.
"But now, because of the year I'm having, my coaches are telling me I could go somewhere and play. Now, I kind of think I could play somewhere, too. Maybe I'll try to walk on at Illinois. Having the year I'm having has given me some confidence that maybe I could do it."
pbabcock@dailyherald.com