Baseball: Lake County All-Area captain Schambow helps Libertyville win first state championship

There are those players in the athletic arena where one look tells the immediate story — he or she is legit.

Recently graduated Libertyville senior Quinn Schambow is the poster child for legit.

“Quinn stands out as a player because of his presence in the box and behind the plate,” Libertyville senior pitcher Josh Holst said. “He displays confidence when he’s at the plate. You can tell he’s a competitive player that you don’t want to make a mistake to. Everything he does looks professional like he’s done it 100 times, even if it’s an extremely difficult play.”

The Wildcats’ other-worldly catcher once again had people shaking their collective heads this spring and early summer with his spectacular production at the plate and behind the dish.

Schambow’s exploits in both departments and as a leader helped Libertyville win the 2025 Class 4A state championship (the program’s first) and earned him the distinction of being named the captain of the Daily Herald’s Lake County All-Area baseball team for a second year in a row — a no-brainer, slam-dunk award choice if there ever was one.

Numbers-wise, the Oklahoma State-bound Schambow, who could be selected in the upcoming Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft in mid-July (Prep Baseball has Schambow listed No. 7 in terms of the top high school catchers in the nation), left zero doubt who the king of the hill is. Schambow hit .451 with 3 homers and 47 RBI. He broke the Libertyville single-season doubles record with 18, walked 21 times and stole 27 bases. Schambow struck out 9 times in 150 plate appearances (a strikeout once every 17 at-bats).

“I would say my hitting got better, for sure,” he said. “I am striking out a lot less. I am a more consistent player. Definitely, my all-around game has gotten a lot better.”

Schambow, the North Suburban Conference player of the year, explained he worked on shortening his swing to get to where he needed to be as an offensive force.

“At the beginning of the season I was not getting into my hip as well,” he said. “My swing was pretty long to the ball and that won’t fly at the next level. I tried to shorten it up over the winter, and going into the season I was making adjustments. What also has made me a better player is making adjustments on the fly and knowing what I can do to get better. With my hitting, if you put the ball in play you get more hits and you get more opportunities, and you strike out less.”

Behind the plate, Schambow continued to draw rave reviews this season for his handling of the Wildcats’ pitching staff.

“Quinn and I have built our relationship since we were 13,” Holst said. “I’m very grateful to have such a skilled catcher for so long. He knows me well enough to where we are usually on the same page all the time. His receiving skills are extremely good and it allows me to get away with throwing balls off the plate that get called strikes.”

Schambow, also Libertyville’s starting quarterback on the football team, said his catching skills have evolved in multiple ways over the last year. Schambow helped Libertyville’s pitching staff to some pretty preposterous numbers. The Wildcats had a staff ERA of 1.12 and struck out 308 batters in 262 innings, while issuing only 95 walks and 162 hits. Only 3 teams scored more than 5 runs on the Cats all season. In Joliet at Slammers’ Field in the state semifinals and finals, Libertyville pitchers allowed 1 earned run and 7 hits in 15 innings while striking out 15 — this included Chase Lockwood’s 8-inning gem against Normal Community in the semis and Holst’s 2-hitter in the title game against McHenry. Holst finished 11-0 with a 1.34 ERA, while Lockwood went 10-0 with a 0.72 ERA on the season.

“I’m stealing more strikes, but I did that a lot last year,” he said. “I’m aware when people try to run and back pick people to keep them on their toes. There haven’t been a lot of guys on all year, but I have kept them where they are.”

Libertyville coach Matt Thompson said all Schambow metrics moved forward this season. Thompson pointed out Schambow’s exit velocity at the plate was consistently over 100 miles per hour.

“Quinn got better at everything this year,” he said. “Each year, he has improved on every aspect of his game, making him a truly complete player. Defensively, he has the strongest arm and is probably the best catcher in the state. The running game is limited against him and they only try to steal off of pitchers. Even then, it is difficult for them to run because he has back-picked a ton of players throughout the year.”

But Thompson counters by saying the biggest improvement he’s seen from his star catcher has come in the leadership department.

“The biggest thing about Quinn is he has matured so much and his leadership is much better than the last two years,” he said. “He consistently encourages every teammate in practice and games. He wants to see everyone on the team be successful and he pushes everyone in the program to get better.”

Schambow leaves Libertyville the owner of a career .433 batting average with 111 RBI, 58 extra-base hits and 45 stolen bases. His 13 career triples are a program record and he’s high atop the Wildcats’ career leaderboard in doubles and stolen bases. He also made only 8 errors in 3-plus years on the Libertyville varsity (.989 fielding percentage in 117 career games).

“I want to be remembered probably as a leader, but also as a guy who knows how to play ball,” he said. “I want to be remembered as a guy who loved sports and was a good teammate.”

In terms of the future, Thompson offered a highly positive outlook regardless of whether Schambow plays at Oklahoma State or gets drafted into the pros.

“Quinn’s potential at the next level is very high,” he said. “At Oklahoma State, he will have a chance to play right away. His arm behind the plate is a major league arm and that is what could get him drafted.”

Holst, headed to the Air Force Academy after striking out 118 batters in 73 1/3 innings, said his longtime battery mate has a long runway ahead of him.

“The sky is the limit for Quinn at the next level whether that is college or pro ball,” he said. “He is a tireless worker and will grow as a player and person wherever he is. Assuming he goes to school, he will take over his role as one of the best defensive catchers in the country right away. I know whatever happens he will succeed.”