Schramek’s Gem Leads ‘Horns to Elite Eight

Brycen Schramek graduates Friday after a stellar athletic career for the Shorthorns.

He’s an all-state kicker in football and is going to kick and punt for Texas Lutheran University. He led the Shorthorns golf team to two state tourney appearances.

But last week was one of his finest performances in a Shorthorn uniform as he pitched a complete game shutout to lead the Shorthorns to a 1-0 regional semifinal victory over No. 1-ranked Johnson City, outdueling a pitcher for the other team that’s signed a scholarship with Texas A&M.

“That dude’s a gamer,” Schulenburg head coach Isaiah Barerra said of Schramek. “Anytime you put the ball in his hands you know you have a heck of a chance to win any game.

“He prepared himself all week, he and Coach Bigham (the pitching coach) put together a heck of a game plan. We watched a lot of film on them, knew who to pitch to. He did an excellent job.”

We’re proud to honor Brycen Schramek as this week’s Fayette County Athlete of the Week. Here’s our interview with him:

Talk about your pitching performance Friday. “It was awesome being able to come out and upset the No. 1 team in the state. Coach Barrera has always preached to us that we are not going to back down from anybody, and everybody came together. We were very focused, but now it’s on to another tough opponent, Danbury.”

What was it like outdueling a Johnson City pitcher that may get drafted and has signed with Texas A&M?

“Gave me a little boost honestly, wanting to go out and compete and shock everybody.”

Are you thinking about trying to play more than one sport in college? “Baseball was originally the plan. I went to some showcases over the summer. I was told that I would be a very small school type guy and some people told me I’d never be worth it. That changed my mindset to football. Golf has been a thought at playing at the next level but right now I’m just going to focus on football.”

This Shorthorn team started the season losing its first seven games. Why did that happen and how have y’all turned it around?

“There’s no answer to why it happened. But at the end of the day I think it was best that it did happen because it made us come together as a team and start playing for one another. When we did that everything flipped.”

How long have you been playing baseball? “Since I could walk. My dad, when I was super little, played for the Schulenburg Merchants (community league team) and we’d always go to those games. At two years old I was running around with a bat and a ball.”

What’s it feel like to know you’ll be playing high school baseball the week of graduation? “It’s a pretty cool feeling knowing you could still be playing baseball when you are out of high school, still representing your school.”

What’s your at-bat walk-

up song? “Skywalker” but I forget who it’s by. Everybody’s going to flame me for that.

Do you have any nicknames? “B-Schram” and “BRy”

When you’ve pitched against your own guys in practice, who is the toughest out? “Probably Zane Brenek because he knows everything I throw and he’s really good at picking up different types of movements. Connor Lichnovsky is really hard to strikeout because he’s always caught my bullpens on the weekend. Jayse Janda is hard to strikeout because he’s my catcher, and Cooper Demel – against him it can get really competitive.”

How did you get into punting and kicking, and talk about the work you put in to excel at it? “I got into punting and kicking at a really young age because I was always told my father was a great punter here at Schulenburg. I wanted to follow in his footsteps. It started when I was like four years old, learning to punt and then I learned how to start kicking. Countless hours, even in elementary and middle school kicking in the front yard or coming up to the football field. Once baseball’s over with, my main focus will be football and kicking.”

If you could have dinner with three famous athletes, who would you pick? “Tiger Woods, Pat McAfee and Rory McIlroy.”

What’s your all-time favorite memory on a baseball field, football field and golf course? “All time favorite memory on a baseball field was definitely last week beating the No. 1 team in the state.

“In football it would be my freshman year when we beat No. 10-ranked Mason in the bidistrict round of the playoffs. It was our first playoff win in a long time.

“On the golf course it would be making it to state in back-to-back years.”

If you could take a trip anywhere this summer, where would you go? “I’d go back to Mexico, just to play golf.”

What do you want to be when you grow up? “I want to become a coach ... I’d love to coach football, baseball and golf. The plan is to start somewhere bigger but end my career here at Schulenburg.”