Lakes' Milewski twins savoring their remaining team time together

The math can be a bit challenging, even for a couple of elite students at the top of their class.

Ben and Matt Milewski, twins at Lakes who rank in the top 10 of the senior class with better than 4.0 grade point averages, can't put an exact number on how many athletic events they've competed in together. They'd be adding and adding and adding … for a very long time.

Between soccer and iceless hockey and football and basketball and baseball and track, the numbers pile up quickly.

"Hundreds … maybe a thousand," said Ben Milewski, doing his best to provide a ballpark on the number of contests.

The run for these "twins turned teammates" spans at least 13 to 14 years. Over that time, there have been park district teams, travel teams and school teams, for at least six different sports.

And every time, the twins have been like a package deal: always playing the same sports, always playing on the same teams.

"We've always been together," Ben Milewski said.

Soon, that will change.

The twins' run is likely coming to an end. After hundreds if not a thousand games, the Milewski twins will soon be playing in their last game together.

"It will be weird not being on the same team, it will be different," Matt Milewski said. "I've played sports my whole life with (Ben). It will be a little sad if this really is it."

Both standout baseball players for the Eagles, Ben and Matt Milewski aren't sure what will happen when the baseball season ends in May or June. They would like to play sports in college, but neither has even decided on a school, let alone a new team.

So savoring the time they have together now is of the highest priority … just in case this really is the end.

"I've really liked it," Ben Milewski said of sharing each and every one of his athletic experiences with his twin. "There are a lot of benefits. It's been really nice because we've always had each other's backs and there's a chemistry there. We have a good feeling for each other when we play.

"We also know each other and each other's skill sets so well that we kind of have expectations for each other."

In other words, the twins have a built-in motivator, someone who is always there, and always pushing for more.

"We've always been able to bring out the best in each other," Matt Milewski said. "It's been nice to have that, especially if you're having a hard time with something or things aren't going well.

"We make each other better."

The funny thing is, by doing that, the twins are often making the competition better.

There have been many times over the years that Ben and Matt are competing directly for spots or playing time.

In baseball, they are both pitchers.

In football, they were both linebackers, and kickers

"We both competed for the job (of kicker)," Ben said.

As it turned out in the Eagles' run to a North Suburban Conference Prairie Division title last fall, Ben handled the kickoffs and punts while Matt kicked extra points and field goals.

"We played soccer when we were younger, so we knew we could kick the ball. We thought kicker would be a good position for us," Ben said. "It's not the flashiest position, but I've always admired what a kicker does. It's a very important position. Games can be won or lost with the kicker."

Or kickers, in this case.

The fact that Lakes had two kickers and divided the responsibilities didn't rub the twins the wrong way. Rather, each twin saw it as an opportunity to perform tasks suited to his strengths.

"There's always that competition there of who can do something better, and you always want to be the one making the play or getting the spot," Matt said. "But at the end of the day, we know that we have different strengths and we are happy to see each other do well. We know that we are family and brothers and we have a respect for each other so we're going to support each other."

That's not to say, however, that the twins don't act like typical brothers, and give each other a hard time every once in a while.

"There's a lot of friendly trash-talking going on," Matt said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I (pitch) harder," Ben said.

"I'm faster," Matt said.

"I'm a little better looking," Ben said with a laugh.

"That's not what the ladies say," Matt said with an even bigger laugh.

Of course, the joke is that the twins look the same, about 6-feet tall with dirty blonde hair.

Yet, oddly enough, they aren't sure if they are identical or actually fraternal twins. They've never taken the blood test to know conclusively.

But if they had to guess…

"I think we're identical," Ben said.

Same sports all these years … why not the same DNA?

pbabcock@dailyherald.com

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