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Kavadas Named Second Team Preseason All-American

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The 2021 Notre Dame baseball season is still over a month away but accolades are starting to pour in for the Irish. Senior infielder Niko Kavadas was named a Second Team Preseason All-American by Perfect Game Tuesday afternoon. It is the sluggers second career All-American honor after being named a Preseason All-American by Baseball America prior to the 2020 season.

“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 his power prowess that he began to show in his sophomore season. 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 set career highs with two home runs and five RBI, including the go-ahead three-run homer, in the 13-5 win on Friday. In his first at-bat on Saturday, Kavadas hit another two-run homer in the first inning to give him three home runs in his previous four at-bats. On Sunday in the ninth, he capped the weekend off with his fourth home run, another two-run shot to right field and put a cap on the 9-0 series sweep win.

Kavadas and the rest of the Irish squad will return to campus in the coming weeks to begin practices for the 2021 campaign. The full 2021 Notre Dame baseball schedule will be released in the next few weeks. 

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