By Mark Tupper
CHAMPAIGN – He knows what it feels like to chase a national championship, to stand in the batter’s box and realize his bat could be the reason his team wins one.
He knows what it’s like to be smack dab in the middle of a storybook season he’ll remember for the rest of his life.
That’s why Steve Kerian is able to rein in his nervousness from his perch behind the University of Illinois dugout this spring as he watches his son experience the same thing.
The “full circle” of what’s happening with the Illini baseball team here in Central Illinois is not lost on Steve Kerian, who helped Decatur win national and world men’s fastpitch softball championships in the heyday of the ADM and Decatur Pride teams.
While living in Decatur during those softball glory days more than 25 years ago, Kerian met his wife, the former Tina Brown, and Tina’s family still resides in Decatur, Mount Zion and Forsyth.
“I love Decatur,” Steve Kerian said this week from their home in Dakota Dunes, S.D. “It’s like a second home to me.”
But no longer is Steve Kerian fielding grounders as a shortstop or second baseman, nor is he swinging a bat against world class pitching. Now he’s the parent of Illini first baseman David Kerian, who on Monday was named Big Ten Conference Player of the Week.
It’s a dream come true for a proud father who played college baseball himself at Florida International and he has watched three sons excel in athletics.
What David Kerian is doing, however, has given his father a magical moment to witness. Click here to read the entire story and view photo.