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People SearchFind an individual who either played a sport or was a member of a support group. Search by last name by clicking on the first letter of the person's last name.
Mr. Douglas "Scham" Schambough
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Home Phone: 337-896-0462 I am currently playing for the Cajuns. I wish our troops in Iraq the best of luck to get home safely. Baseball: Former UL hurler excels with Burlington July 02, 2006 – Dan McDonald Kraig Schambough developed a reputation as a solid closer during his pitching career at the University of Louisiana. “I’ve now fully developed my change-up,” Schambough said this week. “I sort of had it in college, but now playing every day and throwing just about every other day, that’s a big part of it.” Schambough, who signed with the Kansas City Royals organization as a free agent last summer, is playing for the Royals’ Class A Burlington (Iowa) Bees in the full-season Midwest League. The Carencro curveballer has seven saves and a 1.45 earned run average in 22 games along with a 2-2 record. In 37 1/3 innings, he’s allowed only 21 hits and six earned runs while walking 11 and striking out 37. “It’s been a good year so far,” he said. “I’m absolutely happy with the way things are going.” The past week was a busy one for Schambough. He picked up a win in a 2-1 victory over Cedar Rapids on Monday, a game in which Cedar Rapids scored a tying ninth-inning run on a passed ball only to have Burlington score in the bottom of the ninth to even Schambough’s record. On Wednesday, he picked up his seventh save in a 3-2 win, giving up a leadoff single in the ninth before forcing a fielders’ choice grounder from former Cajun teammate Dallas Morris and then striking out the final two batters. “I’m throwing usually three times a week,” he said. “It’s part of the long road you take to live a dream. Usually we’re at the park by 2:15 to stretch and do workouts, get in running and a little throwing, go through batting practice, come in and grab a bite, get ready to play a game that night, and do it all over the next day.” Burlington was 37-37 after Wednesday’s win, playing 74 games in 83 days. Not counting rainouts and a three-day league All-Star break, the Bees have had four days off since early April. “It’s a grind,” Schambough said, “but coach Robe (UL coach Tony Robichaux) warned me it’s a grind. I believed him, but you don’t know how much until you get into it. It takes a toll mentally and physically, so you have to be in shape.” Schambough has been a pro player for just over a year, following a 2005 senior season at UL in which he went 5-1 with five saves and a 2.88 ERA in 28 appearances. Opponents hit only .209 against him that season. “The biggest difference in pro and college is self-motivation,” Schambough said. “Nobody’s sitting there pushing you … you’ve gotta do everything on your own. But I worked hard in the off-season and I feel like I’m a step ahead.” Whether his next steps include Kansas City’s high A club (the California League’s High Desert Mavericks in Adelanto, Calif.), its Wichita, Kan., Wranglers Class AA affiliate in the Texas League, or eventually the Class AAA Omaha Royals in the Pacific Coast League, he doesn’t know and he’s not overly concerned. “I haven’t heard any plans for me moving on,” Schambough said. “If I keep doing my job I have as good a shot as anybody else, maybe a spot will open up. I’m not going to push it. I’m just going to keep doing my job.” Originally published July 2, 2006 Schambough joins teammates in majors Four of the five drafted members of Louisiana’s 2005 Ragin’ Cajun baseball team have signed professional contracts with the clubs that drafted them, and Carencro curveballer Kraig Schambough joined that group Tuesday afternoon. Schambough, the Cajuns’ all-time leader in pitching appearances and saves, signed a free-agent contract with the Kansas City Royals’ organization Tuesday, and departs for Idaho Falls, Idaho, today to join the Idaho Falls Chukars of the rookie Pioneer League. “I feel great now that the wait’s over,” said Schambough. “I was pretty nervous the last few days, but I’m pretty happy now that I’ve signed. They said I’d probably be in the same role that I was in school, but they want me there Thursday.” The Chukars, named after a Western game bird, are the Royals’ advanced rookie league team and begin their season next Tuesday at Casper (Wyo.). Idaho Falls is in the same league as the Orem, Utah, Owlz, where Cajun third baseman Dallas Morris figures to be assigned this week by the Los Angeles Angels. Schambough, a crowd favorite during his career, will likely pitch in front of large crowds again. The Chukars have already sold out their season tickets for this season. Morris has inked with the Angels after being drafted in the 24th round in last week’s Major League Draft. Pitcher Kevin Ardoin, a 10th-round selection, signed with the Detroit Tigers Friday, while first baseman Phillip Hawke signed Saturday with the Texas Rangers after being picked in the 29th round. Catcher Justin Morgan, a 39th-round pick by the Chicago Cubs, agreed to terms verbally with the club last week and officially signed Tuesday at the team’s Mesa, Ariz., summer league home. The only unsigned draftee is pitcher Austin Faught, a 31st-round pick by the Rangers. Faught flew to Arlington Sunday and went through MRI and X-ray examinations on his shoulder and elbow Monday. He was also examined by the Rangers’ head physician at The Ballpark at Arlington Monday night prior to the Rangers’ game. “Everything came back relatively clean,” Faught said. “They were concerned that I still have some soreness. They felt that 100 innings in my first year back was a little high, and one of the doctors said they might recommend I sit for six weeks and then start a throwing plan.” Faught hasn’t received an offer pending further examination, but said Tuesday he was relieved with the MRI results. “They were pretty clear, so that was good,” he said from his family’s home in Houston. “I should hear back from them by the end of the week.” Morgan had his first practice with the Arizona Summer League Cubs Tuesday, after arriving in Mesa Monday. “There are a lot of guys that have been in here in extended spring training,” he said, “so a lot of us that just got here mostly watched intrasquad today.” Morris is also currently in Mesa, which is the home base for the Angels’ Arizona League club. That club’s mini-camp wraps up this week, and Morris expects to be assigned to the Pioneer League South Division’s Orem (Utah) Owlz prior to their season opener Tuesday against Ogden. Hawke’s Arizona League team, working out of Surprise, Ariz., also had its first workout Tuesday and opens its season next Wednesday. Hawke said about half the club is Dominican Republic-based and is in extended spring training, but more draftees are arriving daily. “It’s about half and half now,” he said. “Some guys are still in the College World Series and some are still working on contracts.” Ardoin is in mini-camp with the Tigers in Lakeland, Fla., home base for that club’s rookie league club. But he doesn’t expect to be there long. LAGNIAPPE: Cajun center fielder John Coker and catcher Adam Massiatte worked out for Baltimore Orioles scouts Monday and Cincinnati Reds scouts Tuesday at Moore Field, seeking free agent contracts. “One of the Reds scouts told Coker they really liked him,” UL head coach Tony Robichaux said Tuesday, “and that he should probably expect a phone call from them.” Originally published June 15, 2005 Baseball: Locals bring relief April 29, 2005 – Dan McDonald Their grins tell volumes. Kraig Schambough is riding a streak of solid relief outings, restoring the confidence of a pitcher who thrives on emotion. Thad Montgomery is one pitch away from having seven straight quality appearances, and after four years finally has a role with Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajun baseball team. But they’re not grinning about their personal success, the Cajuns’ current 36-8 record and a national ranking as high as 13th, or even their roles in the squad’s winning ways. They’re laughing about how much they enjoy embarrassing hitters. “We love making our opponents look stupid at the plate,” said Montgomery. “That’s just what pitchers love to do.” “Knowledge is power,” said Schambough. “We have the knowledge. They don’t.” Cocky? Probably so. But pitching, especially relief pitching, is as much about attitude as it is ability, and Cajun coach Tony Robichaux likes both of those characteristics in a duo that has emerged as his right-handed stoppers. “With their seniority and having been here, they know our pitching system backwards and forwards,” Robichaux said. “Our biggest goal this year was to take care of pitching in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings, because if we took care of that we were going to be very tough to beat. They’ve pretty much been rock solid from the right side.” Schambough has been the Cajuns’ most consistent reliever for the past three seasons and is tied for UL’s career record for saves (10). But this season has been his best, with a 4-1 record and a 3.24 ERA with three saves, and 16 of his 19 appearances have been strong ones. And Montgomery? He’s just happy to be near the front of the bus after four years of struggles. He’s 1-1 with three saves and a 2.45 ERA in 13 outings. “It absolutely feels great,” said Montgomery, who threw the ninth inning in Wednesday’s 6-2 Cajun win at McNeese State. “I haven’t been able to contribute like this in past years, and that makes it so sweet to do this.” Very few anticipated this much sweetness nearly five years ago, when Schambough came out of Carencro and Montgomery finished at St. Thomas More. Schambough was a non-qualifier had had to sit out his first year, and Montgomery was a walk-on to the Cajun squad. They both had some prep success. Montgomery was 14-1 in his STM career and may have been a better position player, earning All-State honors twice. Schambough went 8-0 in one of his American Legion seasons and was also more of an all-around player and saw some action at all nine positions at Carencro. But neither reached their potential as pitchers, Robichaux said, until they learned the secret – the change-up. “They were two-pitch people, and now they’re three-pitch people,” he said. “That makes a huge difference. If you don’t have the change, batters can guess right 50 percent of the time. If you can change speeds on a linear path, it becomes an enormous weapon on a hitter. “It’s tough to develop. You have to throw it with a fast-ball delivery, and you’ve got to master the grip and at the same time throw it with the same arm speed. Both of them have developed that over time.” The two former prep rivals started working on the change between their redshirt and freshman seasons, when the two played together in a summer collegiate league in New York. “I used to say I had a change, but I never really did,” Montgomery said. “It’s like learning the pitching system here. You hear all of it, but you don’t understand it until you put it to use in game situations.” “I always had a problem with left-handed hitters,” Schambough said. “But the change helps me get lefties out. Now I feel like I can get either one of them out when I have to.” Schambough’s holding right-handers to a mere .156 average this year. Lefties are at .319, but that number’s dropped considerably over the past month. Montgomery has been solid against both – .200 against left-handers and .209 against righties. And both have had big numbers on the emotion meter. Schambough has become a Moore Field favorite with his bullpen-wall hopping and sprints to the mound from the left-field corner, and Montgomery has fist-pumped his way to the Cajun dugout several times after ending innings with strikeouts. “It’s different when you’re a reliever,” Schambough said. “Starters have to pace themselves. When we come in, it’s to switch the momentum, and when you get the crowd going it helps. It’s something I do, just to get the tempo up.” “You have to be emotional when you come in from the bullpen,” Montgomery said. “You get some outs, the crowd gets pumped up and we feed off each other. When you go in with guys on base and you leave them out there, it makes it awesome.” Originally published April 29, 2005
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