Dec. 12, 2012

MILWAUKEE - Zach Brenner of Racine, Wis., Caleb Haley of Gurnee, Ill., Chaz Schmidt of Twin Lakes, Wis., and Kevin Tibor of Kenosha, Wis., have all signed National Letters of Intent to play baseball at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, head coach Scott Doffek announced this week.

"We know this game is won and lost on the mound and that is what this early signing period was for us," Doffek said. "We wanted to go and find some competitive kids with some upside and I think that is exactly what we did. We are extremely excited to have these young men join our program."

Brenner, Schmidt and Tibor are all seniors in high school. Haley is about to begin his sophomore campaign in junior college in Illinois. All four will be pitchers for the Milwaukee baseball team.

"I am extremely excited to get early commitments from these four young men," UWM pitching coach Cory Bigler said. "They are high-character student-athletes who will improve our program. These guys love to compete!"

Brenner will be a senior at Racine Case High School in the spring and will be looking for a stellar senior campaign after recovering from an injury on the football field. He recorded a 1-1 record and a 2.17 ERA with the Racine Hitters in the summer of 2012. Brenner was named second-team all-county and second-team All-Southeast Conference as a junior despite missing the first half of the season. He batted .368 at the plate as well.

That followed a sophomore campaign where he batted .404 and was named first-team all-league and honorable-mention all-county. The six-time prep letter-winner has also been the starting quarterback for the Case football team since he was a freshman.

"Zach gets after the strike zone," Bigler said. "He is an extremely competitive kid with edge. His ability to throw the fastball to both sides of the plate gives him a chance to be special."

Haley will be a sophomore at the College of Lake County in Grayslake, Ill., this spring. Last spring, he earned First-Team All-Skyway Community College Athletic Conference honors after going 4-1 in 11 games, striking out 64 batters in 53.2 innings of work. He compiled a 2.85 ERA, allowed just 37 hits and was ranked 16th in the country in strikeouts per inning. That followed an all-conference career at Warren Township High School.

"Cal is a physical kid who will continue to develop as he logs more innings," Bigler said. "Cal's arm really works and he possesses the mentality that we want in all of our players."

Schmidt led Wilmot High School to its first Southern Lakes Conference championship since 2009 as a junior. He went a perfect 7-0 on the year, compiling a 1.88 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 48.1 innings on the mound. Those numbers earned the four-year honor roll member second-team all-county and Second-Team All-SLC honors.

"Chaz is a left-handed pitcher with a high ceiling," Bigler said. "He is an extremely mature kid mentally and it will be fun to watch him develop physically. I look forward to seeing Chaz in a Panther uniform."

Tibor enters his senior year at Kenosha Bradford High School just five wins away from the school career record. He was a Third-Team Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association All-State selection and First-Team All-Southeast Conference honoree as a junior after going 9-1 with 98 strikeouts and a 1.62 ERA in 61.2 innings pitched. He also batted .361 to earn a spot on the all-county team. The three-year varsity letterwinner went 4-1 as a sophomore to earn second-team all-league honors and was recently named Bradford's Student-Athlete of the Year.

"Kevin is fun to watch," Bigler said. "His desire to win each pitch may be his biggest asset. Kevin is also a very good athlete who will attack hitters, field his position and hold runners."