Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

Kavadas Garners Second Preseason All-American Honor

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Just a few weeks after earning his first All-American honor of the preseason, senior infielder Niko Kavadas was named Third Team All-America by Baseball America Monday morning. It is Kavadas’ second straight season with All-America honors from Baseball America and the third All-American honor of his career.

Niko has shown extreme power to all fields and is a true threat in any at bat,” said head coach Link Jarrett. “He has worked hard on his craft, and we look forward to another explosive year from him. His defensive development at first base is also something he takes pride in and is very important to the versatility of our team.”

In the shortened 2020 campaign, Kavadas continued to show his power ability for the Irish. The Granger, Ind. native tallied seven home runs in just 13 games, which tied for the conference lead and ranked tied for seventh nationally. Kavadas led the ACC in home runs per game with a 0.54 clip and was second in the conference in RBI per game with 1.31.

Kavadas was named one of Collegiate Baseball’s National Players of the Week on March 3 last season following a dominant performance in the three-game sweep of Presbyterian. He finished the weekend with four homes runs and nine RBI, including career highs with two home runs and five RBI in the opening game win.

In 2019, Kavadas led the Irish with 12 home runs on the year. It was the most home runs by an Irish hitter since Trey Mancini tallied the same number back in 2012. Kavadas enters his senior season with 24 career home runs which is just seven shy of Paul O’Toole (‘02) who ranks 10th all-time with 31 home runs.

The Irish are back on campus with full team practices that began this past Friday. The full 2021 Irish schedule will be released in the coming weeks with the season opener set for Friday, February 19. 

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