Name: Liam Schultz

School: Burlington Central, senior

Sport: Baseball

What he did: Across three games, Schultz went 6 for 11 at the plate, hitting three home runs, scoring four times and drove in eight more.

Schultz was selected as the Kane County Chronicle Athlete of the Week based on an online vote.

Here is his Q&A with sports reporter Joel Boenitz.

How do you feel you performed this week?

Schultz: Honestly, I feel that I’ve performed pretty well, and I’m just focusing on trying to carry that throughout the rest of the season. Not to get too high on myself and just doing anything I can to help the team.

You had three home runs in the week, surpassing your total from all of last year. What was the feeling of seeing the power off the bat?

Schultz: I’m really grateful for what’s already come this early in the season, especially with passing my home-run total from last season. I’m just trying to go game by game, at-bat by at-bat and try to stay calm so I can do anything I can every at-bat.

You’ve also had eight RBIs from the leadoff spot. How does it feel to provide run support early on?

Schultz: Leading off is a little different from what I did last year. But taking what I had from my experience last year with hitting with runners on base and providing it now, I just want to do everything I can to help my team. And then being in that spot, at the beginning of the game, I just want to see as many pitches as I can and relay those to my team.

You went from batting cleanup to the leadoff position. What’s that change been like?

Schultz: At the beginning of the year, when Coach (Kyle) Nelson told me that I’d be leading off, he put a big emphasis on being myself and keeping my same swing. But being leadoff, you want to see a couple more pitches. Last year, I was jumping at the first pitch, and if there was anything in my zone that I liked, I was swinging at it. But this year if I get an offspeed pitch first, I’ll probably take it to see more pitches for my teammates, because I know with my ability, I can fight off pitches until I get what I want.

You also had a position change, going from third base to catcher this year. How has that been?

Schultz: So growing up and over the summers, my main position has been catcher. But when I came to the team last year and my sophomore season, I knew that we already had Jake Johnson behind the plate, and that wasn’t going to change. So last winter I worked hard to play third so that I could get myself in the lineup, so that worked well. Catcher is my main position, but with that, I’m trying to take on the role of being a leader more than I was at third last year.

Any superstitions?

Schultz: I wear the same undershirt for every game and have the same walk-up. When I get to the plate, I take a deep breath, look at the barrel and tap both front points of the plate.

Favorite pregame meal?

Schultz: I like something light and small before a game, so I usually go with chicken and rice. And then I have eggs as a postgame meal.

Who do you have winning the NCAA men’s basketball championship?

Schultz: I made two brackets, and one of them had Duke winning, which didn’t work out too well. But in my other bracket, I have Arizona winning.