Schoeneweis excels as ace of Blue Devils' pitching staff

This has been the year of the freshman, freshman pitcher Scott Schoeneweis that is. Schoeneweis has stepped up as the ace of a young staff for the baseball team, compiling an 11-1 record and an impressive 3.15 ERA while facing the best competition the Atlantic Coast Conference has to offer.

Schoeneweis currently leads the league with 11 victories and stands second in innings pitched and fourth in strikeouts with 91. To say the least, Schoeneweis has emerged as the stopper on a Blue Devil squad that has roared out to a 35-13-1 record, 10-8 in the ACC.

But Schoeneweis knows that there is more to baseball than a sparkling record. Those numbers are also indicative of the team on the field behind him.

"So far there is a lot of luck involved," Schoeneweis said. "I have been supplied with an ungodly amount of runs. It is pretty easy to pitch when you are up five or six runs a game and our defense is one of the best in the nation. It is tough to lose."

Things have not always been this easy for Schoeneweis. In fact, in high school, with his team committing three or four errors and only producing a few runs, the situation for him was often reversed. In his junior year, his team advanced to the state semifinals and Schoeneweis pitched all the games in the tournament on three days rest. Even though they won four games, they lost to the eventual state champion 3-0 in the semis.

"I feel more comfortable now than in high school," Schoeneweis said. "I have a solid defense behind me. I was 19-7 in three years. Senior year I think I was only 7-3, but I had a 0.50 ERA. I would lose games 4-0. All the runs would be unearned and I would give up just one hit. I just was not getting any support."

The Blue Devils were not the only squad vying for Schoeneweis' talents after his stellar high school campaign. But for the Mt. Laurel, N.J., product, the choice between the Montreal Expos -- where he was a 15th-round draft pick last year -- and Duke was not that hard.

"I considered [the Expos offer] a lot," said Schoeneweis. "There were a lot of factors. They knew I had signed with Duke, and I wanted an education.

"He is probably the top pitching coach in the ACC, and one of the tops in the nation," Schoeneweis said.

Despite his respect for his teammates and coaches, Schoeneweis, like many other gifted prospects, has to evaluate his future and his career on a year-to-year basis.

"I do hope that I get drafted again my junior year, and if the money is there . . . "

For now Schoeneweis is content to lend his abilities to a Duke team battling to gain respect in a baseball rich region. He does not seem to be bothered that some of the biggest programs in college baseball, the Miami's, the FSU's did not give him much of a chance.

"Some of the powerhouse baseball schools talked to me a little bit and then shied away," Schoeneweis said. "I got the feeling that they pretty much did not think I could play.

"I try to pitch the same way, whether I'm pitching against [Georgia Tech catcher and Olympian] Jason Veritek, or some Hee Haw from wherever."

Schoeneweis pitches his best under pressure. In a game earlier this season against Florida State, with major league prospect Paul Wilson on the mound for the Seminoles, and a half dozen scouts in the stands, Schoeneweis came up big, shutting out the eighth-ranked Seminoles 3-0.

"I would rather pitch in a game we are winning 1-0 or tied," Schoeneweis said, "instead of an 11-2 ballgame like Sunday night [against Wake Forest].

"It helps keep me focused. I did not speak in the dugout in that game. I was thinking to myself what I had to do. I was so focused. I did not have my best stuff, I did not have the velocity."

Schoeneweis learned the game on a traveling community team, playing against his peers in the city of Philadelphia.

"I was always a pitcher. I think I picked that up from my father who also used to be a pitcher," Schoeneweis said. "Mechanically, he taught me from the beginning. From when I was 12 to 13 to now, I have had basically the same form.

"I am not a big guy at all. When you are the pitcher, no matter how big you are, you are in control. Right now I can throw it pretty hard, and I've got a lot of control. Big guys, 6-5, 240 I can knock them out if I want to."

Upon reaching the college ranks, Schoeneweis understands that it takes more than a live arm to be effective.

"The sign of becoming a good pitcher is when you are not throwing well, you can make the necessary adjustments," Schoeneweis said. "I am at the point where I notice, or coach Hillier points something out and I make the adjustment."

Anyone who follows baseball knows that ballplayers, especially pitchers, are sometimes extremely superstitious. In the movie Bull Durham, pitcher "Nuke" LaRousch wore a garter to the mound after an especially good evening. When he had a good outing, the garters became a standard part of his uniform. Schoeneweis is no different.

"I am pretty superstitious. There are a lot of stupid things I do before every game," Schoeneweis said. "I eat the same meal every day, and I wear full length spandex under my baseball pants.

"One game it was really cold, and I needed to wear the full length spandex. I pitched really well and from then on I wore them. I like the way it feels. It is kind of strange, but I like it.

"When I lost to Georgia Tech, I thought, well, `What did I do wrong?' But I came back to reality-- that is not why we lost."

Within the last couple of weeks, the freshman phenom has begun to garner more national attention. His accomplishments have warrented recent articles in USA Today Baseball Weekly and Baseball America.

"It does not really mean anything," Schoeneweis said. "It is nice to be in a paper which is supposed to be the players in the uppercrust of the nation. But I try not to read my press clippings that often. I did not even know about it until my mom told me."

Schoeneweis and the Blue Devils will take the field at historic Jack Coombs field this afternoon for their final home game of the season, as Duke squares off against North Carolina-Wesleyan.