San Jose Sting

Burlingame pitcher Caitlin Breen has all the attributes to be a good athlete. She’s a hard worker, focused and driven to succeed.

So what makes Breen an elite athlete? The willingness to be self-critical, almost to a fault, and a willingness to change and do whatever it takes to be the best she can be.

Although only a junior in high school, she has the mentality of a junior in college. She’s always looking to be better in everything she does — every day. With an attitude like that, it’s not hard to imagine Breen succeeding.

She experienced a tremendous amount of success during the Burlingame Softball Tournament last week. And despite coming up short in the championship game, it was not from a lack of production from Breen. In five games, she was 2-1 in the pitcher’s circle with 40 strikeouts, including 16 in a 3-2 win over Mills, nine in the championship game against Half Moon Bay and seven out of 11 batters faced in a semifinal win over Hillsdale. She also had seven in a victory over Capuchino.

Offensively, she was 8 for 15 with five RBI, two doubles, a home run and four runs scored.

For her efforts, Breen is this week’s Daily Journal Athlete of the Week.

“She really seems to be in a different groove the last few games,” said Burlingame coach Frank Firpo.

Breen admitted the tournament competition wasn’t the toughest, but she still went out and did what an elite athlete is supposed to do — dominate.

“I have high expectations for myself — both hitting and pitching,” Breen said. “I try to do better each day. I’m really tough on myself. I’m a perfectionist. I think it’s a good thing. Each day I want to focus on what works for me.”

What works for Breen is an ability to throw seven different pitches — and not being afraid to throw any of them in any situation. Depending on the batter, she has a go-to pitch and if she has to throw one pitch, with the game on the line, she’ll go with her rise. As the cleanup hitter on offense, she is looking to do as much damage as possible.

“I’m not going to be happy with just a single,” Breen said. “I just want to do as best as I can.”

Firpo said that as good a pitcher Breen is, she might be a better hitter — which is a scary thought for the opposition.

“She can hit for average, she can hit for power. She’s an excellent base runner,” Firpo said. “And as good as a pitcher she is, you could say it’s the worst thing she does. She’s such a fine hitter.”

As well as Breen is playing right now, however, a couple weeks ago she was in funk. After a strong start to the season in games against Notre Dame-Belmont, San Benito and Presentation — all Central Coast Section powers — Breen struggled in an 8-2 loss to Carlmont to open the Peninsula Athletic League season, one of the worst outings of her high school career.

“I felt everything was wrong,” Breen said. “I think I came in with too much adrenaline. Everything fell apart against Carlmont. I think I was trying too hard.”

Instead of focusing on the negatives of that loss, however, Breen used it as opportunity to find out what went wrong.

“I went out the next day, or Saturday, with my dad for about two hours and broke down everything,” Breen said. “I’m in tune with what I’m doing, right or wrong, but sometimes I look to him (my dad) to help me.”

Since that loss to the Scots, the Panthers have gone 7-3, with Breen being a main cog in the success. As a team captain, she wants to lead by example and Firpo believes it’s rubbing off on the rest of the team.

Although she is only a junior, Breen is already thinking about her next stop in life. She wants to go to a school to become a cardiologist and looking for a school that stresses academics as much as athletics. So while she has seen a lot of her friends make verbal commitments to major Division I softball powers, Breen is waiting to find the perfect fit for her. Stanford is at the top of her list followed by schools in the Ivy League. She recently returned from a trip to the University of Pennsylvania and has a trip to Harvard University planned as well. While she would love to pitch in college, she just wants to play. And it’s not as if pitching is all she can do. She can also play first base and the outfield. With a 4.67 grade point average, Breen definitely puts the “student” in “student-athlete.”

“It’s tough to be patient, to see some of your friends verbally committing,” Breen said. “I could be (committed) by now. But where would you rather have a degree from?”

Breen still has a year and half before she has to worry about college. Until then, she is just trying to be the best she can be.

“High school is my way to practice for college. It’s nice to know I have more time to grow physically and mentally,” Breen said. “This is my chance to be on top. I want to do better every game, every day.”

Nathan Mollat can be reached by e-mail: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 117.