By Fred J. Robledo
COVINA — Normally the younger sibling follows what the older sibling does, except in this case.
Charter Oak senior Robert Owen III had spent his early days at third base, but switched at 12 after noticing his younger sister Jantzen having success behind the plate — a position their father, Robert Owen II, had played growing up.
Jantzen said her dad introduced her to catcher when she was five, and she’s been doing it ever since.
“My sister had already began catching for a few years, and I wanted to be as good as her when I started out,” Robert admitted. “I worked out in the yard with my dad and my sister, just trying to learn the basics. My father taught me everything he knew. We spent countless hours practicing to be as good as I can be, and now my journey has just began.”

So naturally, years later, both are standouts behind the plate at Charter Oak.
Robert, a 5-foot-11 captain, is batting .418 with 12 RBIs and has thrown out 11 runners. The Chargers (13-10, 10-3) entered the week tied for first in the Hacienda League with Walnut (16-9-1, 10-3), with Charter Oak visiting West Covina on Thursday in the league finale while Walnut hosts Chino.
Jantzen, only a sophomore, is batting .367 with 17 RBIs, three doubles, two triples, a homer and has thrown out 17 runners.
After the Chargers’ 10-0 victory over Walnut on Monday, the Chargers (15-10, 5-4) remain a game back of Diamond Ranch, Chino and Los Altos, all tied for first with 6-3 records.
If Charter Oak beats West Covina in the league finale Wednesday, it will at least tie for third and could make the playoffs if tiebreakers work in their favor.
While Jantzen is hoping to join her brother Robert in the playoffs next week, they’re both enjoying catching for the school, and credit each other for the motivation growing up.
Sibling rivalry at times? You bet.
“My sister and I mess around with each other all the time,” Robert said. “We always make little competitions amongst each other to see who is the better athlete.
“These competitions make us realize that we aren’t as good as we would like to be. After every game, we ask each other how we did at that game. We would share our stats and instantly would start messing around with each other. We try to be the best we can be and we make the best effort to be the best catcher in our family.”
Jantzen didn’t disagree.
“Growing up close in age, there has always been a rivalry in everything we do,” Jantzen said. “Being catchers at the same school has been a great coincidence that only drives us to become better athletes because we are both very competitive.”
If you think that competitiveness ends on the baseball and softball field, you’re wrong.
Father Robert II jokes that he stopped helping with their homework in kindergarten, leaving the homework chores to his wife Miriam, and now they’ve not only got two great athletes in the family, but two exceptional student athletes.
If you think their baseball and softball stats are impressive, check out their academic stats.
Robert has a 3.80 GPA and scored 1750 on the SAT and 27 on the ACT. Robert is headed to Point Loma Nazarene and was recently honored as a scholar-athlete at the San Gabriel Valley scholar-athletes awards last month.
Jantzen also sports a 3.80 GPA, and her brother is her biggest cheerleader, saying he expects Jantzen to score well if not better on the SAT and ACT when her time comes to take the tests.
It’s something they talk about as proud, if not prouder, than what they do on the field.
“We try to be two of the top student athletes around,” Robert said. “What’s better than that?”
And by playing catcher, both have learned leadership qualities that they might not have learned playing another position.
“There are special qualities that a catcher must have,” Robert said. “The first characteristic is being vocal. The catcher is the only position where you can see the whole field. Communication is the heart of the defense and the catcher must have great communication skills. A catcher must also be a leader. Anything that the catcher says, the fielders must do. I love being in this position because it is exciting. A catcher is in every play; we are involved in every pitch. We can’t assume that a batter will swing all the time, so a catcher must always expect the unexpected and be on guard.”
Jantzen echoed similar thoughts.
“I wouldn’t trade it for any other position,” she said. “As a catcher, you have to own it and be the leader. There are so many things that go through your head back there; there are so many split second decisions that you have to make.
“The rush and exhilaration that you get is what I play for. Especially those intense games when everything is on the line is a feeling that can never be replaced.”
And like any brother and sister, it’s not always serious, but the end result is.
“My sister and I always have seasonal competitions against each other,” Robert said. “The main thing is who can maintain a higher batting average and who can throw out more runners.
“We have a very competitive rivalry between each other. If there is one thing I know, it’s that Jantzen will always try her hardest to beat me in a competition. Our competitive nature takes our relationship to a new level, but I wouldn’t change it one bit.
There’s probably nothing better, either. A brother and sister pushing each other to levels that would make any parents proud.
“After every game, my brother and I both talk about how we did personally,” Jantzen said. “Of course we tease each other and say things like, ‘wow you suck’ or ‘weight room!’, and even ‘I can do better than that in my sleep’.
“Although at times I would like to hurt him after comments like these, I know in the end I wouldn’t be the athlete I am today without his annoying ways. I wouldn’t trade our relationship for anything else.”