Sibling sensations Talented Kunkel twins shoulder Oak Forest's baseball, softball burdens

Heather Kunkel is such a good athlete that she will be the onlyboy or girl in Oak Forest High School sports history to earn 12varsity letters.

But Jeff Kunkel says that his twin sister can't back their car outof the driveway, won't dare attempt to parallel park, and wouldrather face Pedro Martinez from 40 feet than drive on the Dan RyanExpressway at rush hour.

Heather says she is smarter. She ranks No. 37 in a class of 320while Jeff ranks No. 77. But Jeff counters by pointing out that hescored one point higher on the ACT.

They debate over whose dog is better and cuter. Jeff has hadBailey, a terrier, for two years. Heather recently purchased a puppy,Toby, another terrier.

And they debate over whose future college is doing better in whichsport. Heather will play softball at Missouri. Jeff will playbaseball at Michigan. They made their formal commitments on the sameday.

"One of my goals is I want to have a higher batting average thanHeather," Jeff said.

"It is a friendly competition between us. We played basketball onthe same team in seventh grade. We competed for the same position. Iplayed ahead of her in the small fry (5-1 and under). But it will bedifferent not being around her. I will miss her."

Heather, who is older by nine minutes, said they are "pretty closein some ways," but "sometimes we both get stubborn and have tempers."She admits they get along most of the time. But they never doubledate. They have some of the same friends but don't always hang outtogether.

Pam and Walt Kunkel have another view of their children, whoturned 18 on March 11. The twins share one car, a hand-me-down 1994Pontiac Bonneville. Heather eats pasta, lots of noodles, and hardlyanything else. Steak doesn't interest her. Jeff will eat anythingthat doesn't eat him first. He prefers chicken.

"We have to use extreme bribery to persuade them to clean up theirbedrooms," their mother said.

But it doesn't take any persuasion to coax them to go to a battingcage. Heather started taking lessons when she was 7. Jeff playedwiffle ball in the family room for as long as he can remember. Hisfather said he should be a switch-hitting catcher, that it was thebest way to reach the major leagues. At 12, Jeff realized his fatherwas right.

This spring, they could lead their teams to the state finals.Kelly Herlihy's softball team ranks among the top 18 in the Chicagoarea while Andy Scianna's baseball squad rates among the top six.Scianna produced a state champion in 1985 and he believes this teamcould be as good.

"Everyone looks to Heather to lead them, to get them out of jams,"Herlihy said. "She never makes a mental error. When the ball is hitto her (at shortstop), I don't think twice about her making the rightplay. She knows the game better than anyone."

Scianna said Jeff is the best catcher he has coached in 24 years.He is outstanding on defense, who knows the game and has a cannon foran arm. He consistently throws from home plate to second base in twoseconds or less (he has been timed in 1.87 seconds this spring), astatistic envied by college and professional scouts.

"I've had six players drafted into the pros and I expect Jeff tobe another one," Scianna said of the 5-11, 185-pounder. "Wait untilhe is a junior in college. I think he will be a high draft pick. Heseems to rise to the occasion. He has a lot of moxie. He looks soself-assured. The tougher the game, the tougher he gets."

Heather grew up in Ed Serdar's Whiteford Sharks program. She was astandout second baseman, then shifted to shortstop. As a sophomore,she batted .458. Last year, she batted .433 with 20 RBI for a 19-16sectional qualifier. She chose Missouri, a nationally ranked program,over DePaul, Illinois, Stanford and South Florida.

"Shortstop is a more challenging position," Heather said. "Youhave to have a strong arm and more range (than second base). My goalis to have a higher batting average than the last two years. I haveso much fun with competition, making a cluch play or a big hit. Wewon the regional last year. I hope to go a step farther this year."

She bats No. 3 in the lineup. With fleet-footed freshman LindseyO'Gean batting ahead of her, setting the table, Herlihy predicts alot of offensive fireworks. But can Oak Forest compete with Sandburg,Stagg, Lincoln-Way, defending state champion Joliet and Lockport fromthe rival SICA West?

"Our biggest weakness is slow pitchers (in the SICA Central),"Herlihy said. "We aren't in the SICA West, the powerhouse conference.There is a big dropoff in pitching talent in our league. It is toughto adjust to slow pitching once you have competed against the bestcompetition. We've always had a good program-but not at the level ofthe SICA West. Maybe this will be our year."

Scianna is even more optimistic. He graduated two players fromlast year's 26-8 sectional qualifier and returns his No. 1 battery inpitcher Andrew Weber and Kunkel, who batted .368 with 30 RBI.

"We could be a very good team," Scianna said. "We have a lot ofexperienced players. Each team has its own identity. Will this teamhave the same kind of work ethic as our 1985 state champion?"

To bolster his offense, Scianna has switched Kunkel from the fifthspot in the batting order to second, to take advantage of his switch-hitting and bunting skills.

"I like the move," Jeff said. "The kid who hits ahead of me (MarioMares) gets on base a lot. He can steal bases so pitchers will throwa lot of fastballs at me."

He is motivated, too. One preseason evaluation didn't rank Kunkelamong the top catchers in the Chicago area. He dreams of playing inWrigley Field some day. His grandfather is a longtime Cubs seasonticket holder with seats in the third row behind home plate. Jeff hasattended nearly every opening day and Sunday home game.

"We have higher expectations this year," he said. "It is our lastchance. The seniors have been together for a long time. We've playedon all-star teams since we were 8 years old.

"I love catching. I get to call all my own pitches. I have controlof the game. I have to be a team leader. If no one notices you arethere, you've had a good game. But if you're running to the backstopafter every pitch, they notice."

Somehow, you get the impression that the Kunkel twins will receiveplenty of notice this spring.