From the football field to the baseball diamond, Libertyville sophomore Quinn Schambow is showing off his powerful arm.
Schambow was the starting quarterback for the Wildcats in the fall. This spring he’s displaying the skills that have him rated as one of the top baseball players in his class in Illinois, catching and hitting in the middle of Libertyville’s lineup.
“It’s the same arm slot for me,” he said. “So there’s not much of a change in how I throw from football to baseball. I’m always ready, and I feel like my arm is always ready for either sport.”
The 6-foot, 190-pound Schambow has an important role for the Wildcats in each sport.
“Both positions, quarterback and catcher, are also about commanding the team,” he said. “You call the pitches as a catcher, and you lead the team when you play quarterback. So it’s a lot of fun for me playing both positions.”
Having gone through a season as a starting quarterback, Schambow feels like he’s ready to handle any situation that comes up on the baseball field.
“It helps that I’ve been in the spotlight already,” he said. “I like the pressure on me. You just have to take it. Football is 11 players, baseball is nine, so it’s never all on you. But when you’re in that spotlight, you just have to be yourself and play your game.”
Schambow is hitting .333 with 18 RBIs for the Wildcats (11-9-2) while always being reliable defensively.
“He’s really confident in himself,” Libertyville baseball coach Matt Thompson said. “It’s good to have that ability to not have the situation be too big for him. He’s never afraid to come up throwing. When he’s at the plate, he’s comfortable and confident that he’s going to be successful. That’s big because you could be a young, tentative player even if you have the skills, but that’s not him.”
Perfect Game has rated Schambow as the top catcher and No. 4 player overall in the 2025 class in Illinois and the No. 10 catcher nationally in the class.
Schambow said he enjoys seeing his name mentioned in such high regard but tries to not put too much focus on it.
“It’s pretty awesome,” he said. “It’s cool to see, but it’s not an end-all, be-all. It’s just a number. Me being out there and playing my best is really all that matters to me, not any rankings.”
Two loves
Schambow is having a blast playing the two sports he enjoys most.
“It’s great after the summer getting to come back and play football, which is my second love,” he said. “Then I get back into baseball, my first love. I’ve gotten to start early in both sports, so it was a great opportunity for me, and it’s been a lot of fun.”
Schambow has been playing baseball as long as he can remember.
“Whenever I could start tee ball, I did,” he said. “My dad played baseball, and I just loved it. Ever since I could even hold a ball, I loved it.”
When he got a bit older, he found his home behind the plate.
“I’ve been catching my whole middle school career into high school,” he said. “I used to be a pitcher. I’ll still get on the mound and throw sometimes, but I’ve been catching since I was 11 or 12.
“I love playing catcher. I’m in the action all the time. I’m not standing around in the outfield waiting. I get the ball on every play. It’s the same thing as when you play quarterback. You’re always involved. You lead the team. That’s why I love it. I’m always in the game action. It’s not an easy position, either. I like that. I want to have some challenges.”
That’s an attitude that Schambow takes when he steps into the batter’s box or into the football huddle, as well.
“It’s definitely more fun when you’re challenged,” he said. “When I hit, I’d always love to face an amazing pitcher instead of someone who’s not as good because that’s a great challenge and I can learn things that will help me for the next many years.”
The composed quarterback
Schambow was the starting quarterback on Libertyville’s sophomore team as a freshman. Last summer, he hoped to earn a shot to take over the varsity job. Being named the varsity starter in the fall, Schambow was thrilled.
“It was very exciting,” he said. “I worked really hard for it all summer long. I had to battle for it and eventually won the job. The first game was like nothing I could ever expect. I just had to go out there and do my best. I tried to take the pressure off me and just play my game.
“Getting put in that role, I think it really helped me not only as an athlete but as a person in general.”
Libertyville football coach Mike Jones saw that Schambow had the right mentality to handle the pressure.
“He’s able to keep his composure really well,” Jones said. “For that position, it’s really important. You don’t want to get frustrated and start making mistake after mistake after mistake. He does a good job keeping an even keel.
“Being catcher on the varsity baseball team is the same kind of thing. You have to be even-keeled and be a leader there too.”
Taking over as quarterback, Schambow knew he had to earn his older teammates’ trust.
“I had to do more than just beat out my competition for the position, who was a senior,” he said. “I had to be ready to play physically, and I had to always be looking at the playbook. I had to do everything a step above to earn my teammates’ respect.
“You only have nine games in the regular season, so every one matters. I really had to earn that respect, and I think I did with hard work in practice and a lot of preparation.”
For the season, Schambow completed 110 of 187 passes for 1,579 yards for the Wildcats (5-5). He threw 16 touchdown passes and eight interceptions.
“He has some physical skills that are just top-notch,” Jones said. “Those quick-release skills are obviously huge with both sports. Being a catcher, you’ve got to be ready to get it out of there fast, and it’s the same thing in football as a quarterback. When he decides to let it go, it goes.
“On the football field, I think at times the game seems a little slower to him than the rest of us. He just has a sense for it.”
With a season under his belt, Schambow is hoping for big things in the fall.
“I think I learned a lot of lessons, obviously,” he said. “With me starting as a sophomore and getting a full year of varsity football in while I still have two more years left, that’s really going to help me. I know what to expect now.
“Now I’m hoping to make our road to state in both baseball and football.”
Diamond dreams
While his passion for football continues to grow, Schambow said he is pretty sure about where he wants his future to take him.
“When I’m in football season, I love it,” he said. “But I’ve been dreaming about playing college and professional baseball for a long time. Football is awesome, and it’s so fun. But ultimately, when I go to college, I think it’ll be to play baseball.”
Thompson certainly sees Schambow having the skills to make that happen.
“On the offensive side of things, he’s really comfortable at the plate as a hitter,” Thompson said. “We’ve made him our three hitter and thrown him into that big spot from the beginning, and he looked comfortable with it. He looks comfortable hitting any pitch. He can hit a fastball. He sees off-speed pitches well and hits them.
“Behind the plate, he has a really strong arm. That’s his biggest strength now. He’s working on his receiving and getting better at it, and same with his blocking. But he’s a really big weapon to have back there to slow down other teams’ running game.”
Schambow looks to command the team from behind the plate. Football helped him learn how to be a leader as a young player while knowing when to defer to his older teammates.
“You have to give respect to your seniors who are leaders, and you have to show them that you can do it too,” he said. “I look up to the seniors, and some players look up to me, so I just try to be a good leader. You don’t have to be screaming at everyone or anything like that. You just have to be a good role model for your teammates.”
Schambow isn’t satisfied with the early success. He knows there is plenty of room for him to grow during the rest of his Libertyville career and beyond.
“I can improve everywhere,” he said. “I’m not settled in any way. Obviously, I’m going to get stronger and bigger. I’ve got really good coaches. I have good coaches in the offseason, specific catching coaches that I work with. I have a great family to support me.
“I’m just working on getting better all around, getting stronger and getting stronger mentally. It’s every aspect. I know I’m going to keep getting better.”
Thompson knows that, too, and said he’s confident Schambow’s future is bright.
“Once he works a little more on his receiving and his blocking, he’s definitely going to be a top-level catcher,” Thompson said. “I’m sure he’s going to get plenty of attention from colleges.
“By the time he’s a senior, he’ll have MLB scouts looking at him.”
Steve Millar is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.