Schwartz, Schnitzer: They deliver for VH

Schwartz and Schnitzer.

Catchy, right? Almost sounds like a swanky law firm.

"It does have a good ring to it," Brad Schnitzer confirmed.

Of course, so do all of the W's that have been rung up by Vernon Hills' dynamic pitching duo of Schnitzer and his longtime pal Zack Schwartz.

Cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching.

Between them, the two seniors have about 10 victories this season. And they boast a combined 1.15 earned run average.

Not a bad 1-2 punch -- if they were a 1-2 punch, that is.

With Schwartz and Schnitzer, it's more like a 1-1 punch.

The distinction between Schwartz and Schnitzer isn't very clear. Of the two, it's almost impossible on most days to decipher which pitcher is more valuable, more dominant.

The team's ace? Good question, and good luck finding out.

Don't bother asking Schwartz or Schnitzer. They can't decide.

And neither can their coach, Jay Czarnecki.

Too close to call, they all say. The stats, the presence on the mound, the ability to handle the toughest teams ... it's a virtual toss-up between the two.

"I guess you could say that we have a 1 and a 1A," Czarnecki said. "But which one is which, I couldn't say that either."

With Schwartz and Schnitzer, Czarnecki doesn't necessarily have to.

Some pitchers might be bothered by not being designated No. 1 if they felt they deserved it. Schwartz and Schnitzer are such good friends, and have such a genuine respect for each other, that they seem to care less about titles and labels.

"We're both pretty laid back and just want what's best for the team," Schwartz said. "Yeah, I think there's a competition between us, but it's a healthy competition."

Czarnecki says that both Schwartz and Schnitzer are legitimate ace material, and that's probably one of the biggest reasons Vernon Hills won its second consecutive North Suburban Conference Prairie Division title this season.

"We're in a really nice situation just to have to make that choice -- most teams would love to have that problem," Czarnecki said. "I can't tell you how unique it is to have two dominant pitchers that are the same age. I can't put into words what that means for our team.

"We have two guys we feel equally confident about and we know we could put either one of them out there in any situation."

Although Schwartz and Schnitzer seem to be at the same point now, they arrived from different directions.

Schnitzer, a lefty who likes to make batters think by mixing in a heavy dose of off-speed pitches, was moved up to the varsity as a sophomore and thrived.

Schwartz, a methodical pitcher who tends to get a lot of ground outs, was going to get the same opportunity. But the day before he was to officially move up to varsity, he broke his ankle in practice.

He was forced to sit the entire season and struggled through much of summer ball.

Even when baseball started back up last spring, Schwartz still didn't feel quite right.

"It was hard. It was a bummer, and I kind of was re-learning a lot," Schwartz said. "It wasn't until about the middle of last year that I finally started to feel like I was back."

And that was just in time for Schwartz to help the Cougars win the Prairie Division title and the 2007 North Suburban Conference title game.

It was the first time a team from the small-school Prairie Division won the crossover championship game in baseball. Vernon Hills beat Lake Zurich with Schnitzer on the mound.

"I like playing the bigger schools because they aren't expecting us to be as good as we are," Schwartz said.

"Some of those bigger schools are almost expected to win every game," Schnitzer said. "So we almost have to want it that much more."

Then again, motivation doesn't seem to be a problem for either Schwartz or Schnitzer. And that's evident in their off-season routines.

Schwartz said he began working out for this season the day after last season ended. He went to the gym daily, and worked incessantly on his hitting and pitching,

"I did everything I could think of," Schwartz said. "I just wanted to get better."

Schnitzer wanted the same and decided to hit the road. He hooked up with a highly recommended pitching coach in St. Charles and traveled there twice a week just to work on his mechanics.

"I worked on my velocity and being more efficient," Schnitzer said. "I think it helped a lot. I'm not sure how fast I am right now, but my pitches seem faster."

Schnitzer will probably find out for sure next year. He'll be playing baseball at Division II University of Tampa.

Not surprisingly, Schwartz will also continue his career. He'll be pitching at Division III Loras College in Iowa.

It will be the first time in four years that Schwartz and Schnitzer won't be on the same staff.

"Before we got to high school, we were hardly ever on the same team," Schnitzer said. "We were always the friends in school who were always competing against each other.

"But since our freshmen year, we've been together. I was going to ask (Zack) to go to Tampa. (Going separate ways) is going to be hard."

But maybe not forever

Schwartz is considering doing pre-law at Loras.

Hmm. A lawyer. Wonder who would be a good partner for him?