Both JJ Schwarz and Mike Rivera had the kind of success in high school that most kids playing on little league field dreamed about. Both were wildly successful in high school, Rivera at Venice High School and JJ at Palm Beach Gardens.
Rivera won back-to-back state championships to end his high school career and Schwarz hit .361 with 33 RBI, 15 runs, seven home runs and four doubles as a senior. Both were named to the 2013 USA 18-U National Team, which repeated as World Champions, before becoming Florida Gators.
That’s where their friendship began. The two split time catching on Team USA and little did they know, their future coaches were already trying to figure out what to do with two catchers.
“Once we kind of figured out that both were going to come to school we had talked about it as a staff, kind of like a pre-determined deal that they were going to kind of go back and forth,” Kevin O’Sullivan said. “Both guys were good enough to do that. You kind of hoped that it would work out that way and it just has.”
O’Sullivan hoped that his plan to play both would work but he wasn’t positive it would by any means. Sharing a position is one thing, but no freshman coming in to play at Florida wants to do that. They all have Major League aspirations that don’t involve a timeshare at their position. Fortunately for O’Sullivan, the two got a taste of what it was like to have a timeshare behind the dish with Team USA and neither minded it.
“I think it works well. It worked last year definitely,” Rivera, the better defensive catcher of the two said. “He’s helped me save my legs, even though I was injured. He’s helped me a lot. I also helped him as well. It’s a huge thing to hit when you have legs.”
Rivera typically catches Logan Shore on Friday and the series cap on Sunday. That leaves Schwarz as Florida’s DH for most games. Schwarz is rated as the No. 1 prospect in the country for the 2017 MLB Draft and he could take the stance that he needs to showcase his ability behind the dish.
“I’ve just been trying to work on my defense as much as I could because I thought that was one of my weaker areas,” Schwarz said.
For whatever reason the sarcastic, introverted Schwarz and the fiery Rivera don’t mind sharing. They understand what the benefits are for the team and that’s enough for them.
“It’s worked out to be a very good thing for our team. I think it’s turned out to be a very good thing for both those guys. They’ve learned a little bit from each other,” O’Sullivan said. “They’re great friends off the field. It’s a really unique situation but it’s worked for the Gators, it’s worked for us. I thank those guys a lot because a lot of people may not handle that type of situation very well but they’ve been awesome since day one with each other and their teammates. It’s worked out really well.”
Good stuff, CHOMP CHOMP