The app was named Scholarship Scout, and it was designed to help students find college scholarships and colleges more likely to award those students financial aid.
The team of young entrepreneurs studied the competition and designed what it felt was a better product, said Jason Vrbancic, who was one of five team members.
It was all done during the previous academic year for LA Tank, Loyola Academy’s version of the television show “Shark Tank.”
“Our idea was to partner with certain schools and incentivize in a way those schools would prefer to use our app to give out scholarships than use other means,” Vrbancic said.
For Vrbancic, who is now a senior and a catcher on the Ramblers baseball team, working on Scholarship Scout was a chance to apply his interests.
“I’m really into STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and designing things,” Vrbancic said.
He plans to attend the University of Chicago in the fall, study molecular engineering and play baseball. His goal is to become a mechanical engineer.
And Vrbancic understands the importance of scholarships. He earned three of them to help cover Loyola’s tuition.
After advancing through preliminary rounds of LA Tank to the finals, Vrbancic and his teammates presented their idea to a panel of judges with a variety of business experience. Scholarship Scout finished third.
Vrbancic’s academic prowess — he also scored a perfect 36 on his ACT, is a National Merit Scholarship finalist and is a member of Loyola’s Clavius Scholars Honors Program, which is designed to prepare students for admission to elite universities by focusing on science and math — translates to the baseball diamond.
Loyola coach Nick Bridich said Vrbancic uses his mental skills as well as his physical talent to diagnose pitchers’ strengths and weaknesses.
Henry Haracz, a Loyola senior pitcher and Evanston resident, said Vrbancic knows how to communicate with the pitchers and help them achieve their best possible performance.
“He’s very smart,” said Haracz, who is scheduled to play for John Carroll, a Division III program in Ohio. “He’s very good at keeping us focused and making sure we hit our spots. He really knows the batters and knows what to keep us away from.”
Vrbancic’s love of baseball can be traced all the way back to when he was 4 and he used a bat to hit a ball for the first time. He loved making contact. And still does.
“I get that feeling every time the barrel meets the ball,” Vrbancic said. “It’s one of the best feelings I can ever have.”
Last season, Vrbancic was playing first base and hitting .434 through 18 games when he broke his right ankle chasing a foul ball. Vrbancic missed almost all of the remainder of the season, but he returned as the designated hitter for the Ramblers’ 5-4 loss to Fenwick in the Class 4A Fenwick Regional title game.
“I needed a runner,” Vrbancic said. “I could swing, but I couldn’t turn.”
Though Vrbancic said he is fully recovered, he hit .222 through the first nine games this season. But he’s been hot of late for Loyola (10-4 through Monday). After going hitless in a 2-1 loss at St. Laurence on Thursday, Vrbancic had the game-winning, walk-off hit in a 5-4 victory over St. Francis the next day. He then went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs in a 13-12 loss to Brother Rice on Saturday.
“Jason has really begun to string more quality at-bats together,” Bridich said in a text. “He is much more comfortable and handling the strike zone better. He is settling into being in RBI situations and not putting unnecessary pressure on himself.”
Vrbancic’s smarts were evident at Loyola well before he played his first baseball game in a Ramblers uniform.
Bridich, who is also the assistant director of admissions, said Vrbancic is a recipient of the a Bellarmine Scholarship, which is awarded to students who score in the top 1 percent on the school’s entrance exam and elect to go to Loyola.
He also received financial assistance from the Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund and the Arthur J. Schmitt Foundation.
The Daniel Murphy program is designed to give high school scholarships to financially disadvantaged youths in Chicago, according to its website. The Schmitt Foundation offers scholarships to “discover and nurture the intellectual, spiritual and leadership potential in young people,” according to its website. Community service is part of both grants.
Vrbancic said the service projects sometimes involve visiting senior citizens at Sunrise Senior Living in Wilmette. Other times he tutors children in the city.
“It’s great to see their eyes light up when you help them understand something,” Vrbancic said. “It’s awesome when you’re the one helping them understand it.”
Steve Sadin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press
