On Nov. 13, 2024 Tamalpais High School senior Eli Solem officially became a University of California (UC) Davis Aggie. Solem, a 6’3” two-way pitcher and hitter for Tam baseball, verbally committed to UC Davis on July 20 after an impactful season for Tam and his travel team, Alpha Baseball.
Baseball has been a part of Solem’s life from a very young age. He grew up watching his older brother, Noah Solem, play baseball, and attended San Francisco Giants’ games with his grandpa, Don Solem. With baseball surrounding him, it was inevitable that Solem would pick up a baseball sooner or later.
Solem began playing in Mill Valley Little League and, year by year, he worked his way up the ranks of the league until “Majors,” where Solem began to learn that he was pretty good, especially at pitching. It wasn’t until 2017 when Solem began playing travel baseball for Southern Marin Arsenal Baseball Club, where he was introduced to Tam baseball coaches: former head coach Nathen Bernstein and current head coach Patrick Collins-Bride.
“The [Arsenal and Tam] programs set me up to be in a position to succeed,” Solem said. “All the coaches and all the teammates are all super supportive, like Coach Bernstein and Coach CB [Collins-Bride].”
Solem started out high school by playing on the freshmen team, and proceeded to move up to varsity his sophomore year. He was one of four sophomores on about a 30 man roster.
“In the time he was freshman, he was fully invested in his own development,” Tam head coach Patrick Collins-Bride said. “Anything and everything coaches would say to players to develop their skills, he applied it full force.”
Those qualities were fully displayed to UC Davis pitching coach Zack Thornton, who highlighted similar things about Solem during the recruitment process. Solem exemplified what he looks for when scouting.
“Competitiveness first off, and how [Solem] does things on a daily basis,” Thornton said. “How [Solem] shows up to the field, his routine before he gets on the mound, and that’s almost just as important as talent.”
Throughout his high school career at Tam, Solem has maintained an impressive 4.34 weighted grade-point average while participating in a varsity sport, another thing Thornton highlighted when speaking about Solem.
“I’ve seen his transcripts and it’s one of the more impressive ones that I have seen,” Thornton said. “I don’t have to worry about [his performance] in the classroom and that’s important to us. Davis is academically challenging, and you have to be on top of your game.”
Solem looks to capitalize both sides of the ball for his senior season like he previously has. Solem was a huge part in Tam’s success in taking home the 2023 Marin County Athletic League (MCAL) championship. In Solem’s junior season for Tam, he pitched a 2.74 earned runs average (on average only allowing about two runs per game) through 53.2 innings while picking up 61 strikeouts and smashing two home runs.
“I am really looking forward to this season because pretty much all the guys in our class have been working their asses off since freshman year and buying in right now.” Solem said.
Solem and Tam look to recapture the MCAL pennant after a 12-13 season last year. Coach Collins-Bride hopes to build on the success of Coach Bernstein in previous seasons and rely on his committed ace, Solem, into the new season.
“I don’t think UC Davis is his final stop, he has what it takes to make it playing baseball.” Collins-Bride said. ♦
