There are many reasons why the St. Francis baseball team is on the cusp of clinching the league regular-season title on Friday and favored to capture the section title in three weeks.
But there's perhaps no bigger reason than Kristen Strem's water polo career.
Kristen Strem, older sister of St. Francis baseball star Michael Strem, was playing for Burlingame High five years ago in a polo tournament at St. Francis when her mother, Kathy Strem, got an eyeful of the Lancer baseball field and pastoral campus.
"We really stumbled upon the school," said Mark Strem, father of Kristen and Michael. "My wife started walking around the campus and saw the baseball field and said 'Oh my gosh, you should see this place.' So we took Michael down there the next day."
The Strems live in Burlingame, so St. Francis is a bit of a commute. Michael Strem took the train to and from every day for 1 1/2 years until he got his driver's license -- spending 12 hours a day away from home each day as a freshman as he competed in football, basketball and baseball.
"I told him that if he wanted to go there, he'd have to take the train for a while and keep his grades up," Mark Strem said. "He was very diligent."
Strem was a successful three-sport athlete as a freshman at St. Francis, but decided to focus on baseball after breaking his arm in a late-season football game. The decision has paid off for the 5-foot-11, 180-pound pitcher/infielder.
He's led the Lancers (24-2 overall, 11-2 league) to a national ranking on the diamond by starring on the mound, at the plate and in the field.
The blond-haired, green-eyed standout has a 9-0 record on the hill with a 1.02 earned run average while striking out 56 and walking 13. Opponents are hitting just .165 against him as he mixes an 85-88 (mph) fastball with a curve, change-up and devastating slider.
When not pitching, Strem is usually at second base and forms a cohesive double-play combination with boyhood pal Chris Baker, while compiling a .440 average at the plate with 16 runs batted in.
Strem, who has a 3.3 grade point average and has signed with Boston College, will be on the mound Friday against Valley Christian (4 pm, St. Francis High School) when the Lancers try to clinch another West Catholic Athletic League regular-season title.
"Some guys have great tools and athleticism but have no feel for playing the game," St. Francis coach Mike Oakland said. "Michael has good tools and athleticism and has a great feel for playing the game. Michael is also a very even keel player. He doesn't get too high or too low."
Mark Strem was a tennis star at Aragon High and at the University of Michigan, but did not steer his children into any particular sport. Kristen played polo and lacrosse at Burlingame and Michael picked up baseball at an early age, as well as basketball and flag football. He also played a little tennis at Burlingame Intermediate School, going 5-0 in singles competition as an eighth grader.
But baseball was his game and he excelled in Little League on a Hillsborough all-star team that included Baker and Matt Crook, the fire-balling left-handed pitcher who now stars for St. Ignatius.
Later, Strem and Baker also played together on the Star Maker travel team and then enrolled at St. Francis where they attend classes at the picturesque campus and play at the 800-seat Chris Bradford Stadium, the prep baseball cathedral named after the former Lancer coach.
"I just love hitting and pitching and playing and playing in the field," Strem said. "And playing here is so great, with all of my teammates and the atmosphere. It's pretty special."
Mark and Kathy Strem have witnessed many of their sons great moments, but there was one noteworthy feat they missed.
On Father's Day four years ago Michael was playing in a travel ball tournament in Arizona. Mark and Kathy skipped the game to go out to dinner and later wished they hadn't.
"I got a call from one of the player's dads and he said Michael had hit a walk-off grand slam," Mark said. "I said 'yeah, right' because Michael is not a big power hitter. I thought they were pulling my leg but it turns out we were down seven runs to start the inning, scratched out a few runs and then loaded the bases and Michael hit the first pitch over the left-center field fence. I was suspicious about the story at first, but it turned out to be all true."
As their son's glory-filled senior season winds down, the Strems aren't likely to miss any more games. First there's Friday's biggie with Valley Christian, then next week's WCAL tourney and then, finally, the CCS tourney which the Lancers hope will result in their first section title since 2001.
"We've fallen short the last couple of years, but we feel like this is the year," Strem said. "It would be unbelievable. It would be the cherry on top to a great year."
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John Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@Prep2Prep.com and followed on Twitter @PrepCat
