The lefty stance, line-drive swing and opposite-field power are all in Naomi Stremick’s groove house.
In her circle, the fastball is just one of her vast array of pitches.
“She is a beast, you know? That’s the bottom line,” Kaimuki softball coach Chris Awaya said after Kalani’s 16-3 win on Saturday. “She’s both a line-drive hitter and power hitter. She’s brought up old school. I know the parents. Back in the day it was line drives. The bombs will come.”
Stremick’s talent? Undeniable. So is this: She can be a bit of a nervous Nellie occasionally. The daily grind includes AP classes and year-round training, but she takes a pit stop when she can.
“I need to do my school work early. If I cram, all the stress I would have would make me break down every night,” the sophomore said. “I’m a very anxious person. Sometimes I just need a mental break at school so I just play video games.”
When she’s not engaged with Clash Royale, Stremick is in tune with her teachers — Stremick has a 4.05 grade-point average — and coaches. Her mother, Iris Stremick, is the head coach of a softball squad that went 17-8 overall in 2023, barely missing the state tournament
This spring, Kalani is 12-5 overall, including 3-1 in the OIA East, with a heavy emphasis on team-wide contributions. Stremick’s talent as a hitter and pitcher, however, are vital to the Lady Falcons’ postseason hopes. She keeps it as simple as possible, executing her daytime duties with precision.
Getting the assignments done quickly is a must for Stremick, as it is for more and more student-athletes. The trend toward finishing daily school work early seems to be predominant since the pandemic.
“Sometimes I get my homework done during study hall,” she said.
Her favorite scripture is Matthew 6:27.
“To me, it just means I just have to focus on the now in my life. I can’t let the uncontrollables determine my life,” Stremick said. “Just leave it in God’s hands.”
Having a clean slate also seems to help Stremick on the diamond. The Kalani pitcher/outfielder had a superb season as a freshman last year. The left-hander earned Star-Advertiser Softball All-State third-team honors from a panel of coaches and media.
She did it just months after a PCL injury in the summer of 2022. showing no ill effects. In OIA play last year, Stremick batted .583 with two home runs, two triples, five doubles, two RBIs and 10 runs scored. She had an on-base percentage of .623 and a slugging average of .896. She pitched 43 2/3 innings with a 5-3 record and 3.53 ERA, striking out 29 with 20 walks.
This season, she is back at it. She had a string of five consecutive home runs during a tournament at Baldwin. During OIA play, she is 6-for-12 at the plate with four doubles and a triple She also has three RBIs, eight runs scored, two stolen bases and a walk, numbers that would be twice or three times more if not for the blowout wins and coach Stremick’s penchant for playing the entire reserve unit by the third inning.
In the circle, Stremick has an ERA of 1.31, allowing one run and four hits in seven innings. Her command is true: eight strikeouts and no walks issued.
The level of inner drive for Stremick was no different for her siblings. Kaden, 20, played baseball for Kalani and works out with his sisters occasionally. He doesn’t allow much slack as they focus on explosiveness during some creative work with weights. Older sister Leona is Kalani’s starting third baseman, one of the seniors who have helped unify a team with a wide variety of contributors from ninth graders to 12th graders.
“It’s pretty different this year. We tried to discuss what our mentality would be this season. We agreed we all want to be more competitive. Not cocky, but have a fiery attitude. We’ve done a great job, especially in practice and games. We’re not afraid to be competitive like that, pushing each other,” she said.
Naomi Stremick says her older sister can be quirky, but Leona Stremick says her younger sister can be goofy.
“This year, we’re a lot more comfortable with each other,” Naomi Stremick said of her team. “Before, we had a filter when we were around the whole team. We’ve gotten a lot closer and express who we are rather than hiding ourselves. I’ve had a lot more conversations than before.”
The constant grind also features their father, Jim, an assistant coach. It may not be that common for a family to be so intrinsically bonded on and off the field. The Stremicks make it work. The sisters are close but treat each other as teammates when they’re on the field. They’re friends as much as they are siblings.
“One day, I want to go to Ireland, ride a horse and have a snowball fight with my sister,” Naomi Stremick said. “We’re a little bit of everything: Irish, Austrian, English, German, Scottish, Okinawan, Chinese, Filipino and Hawaiian.”
Their uncle, Joe Carpio, is also an assistant coach. Cousin Katie Carpio is a pitcher/infielder. Another cousin, Reece Tanaka, plays baseball at UH Hilo.
Leona Stremick may have the coolest non-sports talent among them all: a gift for drawing.
“She’s really good at art. One of my favorite ones is a portrait with me, her and our cousin Katie,” Naomi Stremick said.
For now, the Lady Falcons are cautiously optimistic. Coach Iris Stremick challenges them every day to dream big.
“We want to say we want to go all the way. Every year, we should aim to get to the highest level. We tell the girls, we don’t know what’s possible,” she said. “Close teams can pull out some amazing things. Maddix (Murakami) is hard to replace (at shortstop), but Ashley (Sera) has done a nice job. The girls are starting to believe they can be there, too.”
The Falcons are on pace to duplicate or improve on last year’s 10-2 regular-season tally. Kalani is averaging 13 runs per game with wins over Roosevelt, Kahuku and Kaimuki by (10-run) mercy rule. The lone defeat was at Castle, 6-5, two weekends ago.
Junior catcher Haley Ching has incredible freedom this season. The coaching staff allows her to call pitches, and Ching’s feel for Naomi Stremick’s pitching arsenal is crucial to their success.
“Naomi’s mindset is she’s a lot more aggressive this year. We can go really far. Our team chemistry is really good this year,” Ching said.
In their 16-3 win over Kaimuki on Saturday, the starters played two innings, staked the Falcons to a 10-0 lead and sat the rest of the way. Naomi Stremick went 2-for-2 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored. In the circle, she allowed an infield single, struck out three and hit one batter.
“I decide for myself what I want to throw before I throw it. Most of the time, Haley gets it on the first try, but I trust her that even if it’s not a pitch that I want, OK, I can do what she calls,” she said. “I like the freedom and knowing that she’s going to be there, support me and get me a strike.”
Her ability to bat left-handed, smoke line drives and run the bases is invaluable from the No. 2 spot in the lineup. Stremick’s value as a pitcher, though, may carry much more weight for Kalani.
“Usually in warmups, they have an idea of what’s working or not,” she said, referring to Ching and their coaches.
Ching is the barometer behind the plate.
“I ask how does that look,” Naomi Stremick said. “We communicate a lot. I always have a plan of what I’m going to pitch. If we’re facing a team that does well against my general plan, we switch it up.”
Iris Stremick, who was Iris Nakahara during her pitching career at ‘Iolani, graduating in 1991, preferred to teach her daughters a variety of pitches.
“I taught them everything so they had an understanding. College coaches, they say you should only have three, but I’m not the pitching coach (in college) who’s going to fine-tune you. I want you to have a base of understanding.” she said. “Sometimes it’s been her drop, or her rise, or her screw(ball) that’s her best. We work on everything, and come game time, ‘I think my screw is working really good.’ They have the tools and can figure out which to use.”
Naomi Stremick’s rehab after the PCL injury generated a momentum that isolates her as one of the better pitcher/position players in the OIA, and perhaps the entire state. Her swing is compact. The ball is a missile off the bat.
“She’s gotten good help from a friend of ours. They fine-tuned some stuff,” Jim Stremick said. “What’s fun is last summer she started slapping on her own. She would recognize if they were pushing back. She’s so competitive. She sees so much.”
Despite her young age, Naomi Stremick has learned that she won’t be able to do it alone.
“I feel like this year we’ve started out a lot closer than last year,” she said. “We’ve stressed a lot of team bonding, just staying together as a team. I think that’s what we do best. Our goals are as a team and we all have each other’s back.”
NAOMI STREMICK
Kalani softball • Pitcher / center fielder • Sophomore
Q&A
>> Top 3 movies/shows
1. “Young Sheldon”
2. “Star Wars: The Bad Batch”
3. “Tangled”
“I’ve seen ‘Tangled’ more than 10 times. I usually watch it with my parents and other people.”
>> Top 3 foods/drinks
1. Boba (Share Tea, Kahala Mall)
2. Sushi (Kozo Sushi)
3. Everything at King Crab
>> Top 3 homemade food
1. Dad’s spaghetti
2. Auntie Nori’s salmon
3. Mom’s chicken luau
“I can make the spaghetti and chicken luau.”
>> Top 3 music artists
1. The Cranberries – “In the End”
2. Taylor Swift – “Foolish One”
3. One Direction – “Fool’s Gold”
“Me and my sister and brother like ‘Foolish One’. It’s our bonding song.”
>> Favorite athlete: Sis Bates
>> Funniest teammate: Leona Stremick
“My sister, I don’t know, she’s very quirky and she doesn’t do anything intentionally funny. She has a lot of personality. She’s very original.”
>> Smartest teammate: Rylie Kodama
“She knows a lot of things.”
>> GPA: 4.05
>> Favorite teacher/class: Mr. (Scott) Melemai, U.S. History
“He’s my AP U.S. History teacher this year. He thinks in a very broad and big-picture way. Some of what he teaches is so obvious, but I can’t think of that myself. He makes connections with the world and our society.”
>> Favorite scripture: Matthew 6:27
“To me it just means I just have to focus on the now in my life. I can’t let the uncontrollables determine my life. Just leave it in God’s hands.”
>> Hidden talent: Uno
>> New life skill: Listening
“I think I’ve developed it a lot more.”
>> Time machine: “I would take my sister and time travel to the 1500s so she could lead the Renaissance. She’s really good at art. She’s done a couple of portraits of myself, but one of my favorite ones is one with me, Leona and Katie (Carpio), our cousin.”
>> Youth sports: Ballet, baseball, flag football, soccer. “I hated baseball, and I started softball when I was 8. My mom coached us.”
>> If you could go back in time, what would you tell your younger self?
“Acquire a taste for vegetables. I need to start eating healthier. I’m a lot less picky now. I hated celery. I like broccoli now.”
>> Shoutouts: “My coaches, all those who’ve helped me through the years. And to my team. Every single one of them means a lot to me. I’m happy they’re part of this journey I’m on. My family and especially to my cousin Reece (Tanaka), who’s doing really well at UH Hilo (baseball).”
