Ohio State freshman outfielder Kade Kern was honored on June 9 as a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. It’s yet another for the budding star from Archbold, Ohio, who was named to the All-Big Ten second-team and the Big Ten All-Freshman team shortly after Ohio State’s 2021 campaign came to a close.
Kern broke onto the scene earlier than expected for the Buckeyes. He started all 42 games as a true freshman, working his way into the lineup with strong hitting and trustworthy defense out in the outfield.
“He had a slow start in the fall because of COVID protocols, all of our freshmen did, just not having normal training in the fall semester,” Ohio State head coach Greg Beals told BSB in April. “It slowed down the development of our personnel a little bit. But Kade Kern is a diligent worker and put a lot of work in and made sure that he was ready. We knew he was talented, but it’s hard to say that a guy is ever going to start as fast as he has.”
For Kern, the secret to this early success is… no secret at all. He just looks to be as prepared as he can be when he goes into a game.
“Honestly, I think my greatest ability would be my preparation,” Kern said. “I pride myself on that and I always come in prepared for every situation. I think I prepare myself more than most players would and work harder than most players would. That just helps my overall game in every aspect. It’s just my preparation.
“There’s a bunch of people involved with that – nutritionists, strength coaches, hitting coaches, my whole coaching staff here. There are a lot of people that have helped me figure out a preparation plan, a way to prepare and a way to be ready for games.”
He finished the season with a team-high .325 batting average, a .391 on-base percentage and a .438 slugging percentage. He racked up 10 doubles and a pair of home runs while batting in 30 runs, good for No. 3 on the team behind Conner Pohl (36) and Zach Dezenzo (31).
