Ed Kahovec named new Bard baseball coach

Bard College has a new baseball coach in anticipation of the varsity sport returning to the campus.

Ed Kahovec, who recently finished his third season on the baseball staff at his alma mater, the University of Rochester, has been named Assistant Athletic Director/Head Baseball Coach by the Bard College Department of Athletics and Recreation.

“I’m extremely excited to have found this opportunity at Bard,” Kahovec said. “To be able to recruit nationally for such a strong academic school, in a strong conference I have a lot of familiarity with … it’s a challenge I look forward to.”

For the last three years, Kahovec has been an assistant coach at the University of Rochester, where he was a top player for four years. His main role was recruiting coordinator, but he also was hitting and infield coach, and he developed and supervised the team’s offseason strength and conditioning program.

“Although nothing usually surprises me in the world of coaching, I am surprised that I will have the opportunity to coach in the Liberty League,” Kahovec said. “It’s such a strong conference academically and athletically, when coaches get hired at a Liberty League school, they don’t leave. So to have the opportunity to establish my career at Bard is something I’m very grateful for.”

Kahovec will be taking over a new program at Bard, where varsity baseball hasn’t been played since 1937. Construction of a state-of-the-art turf baseball facility is expected to begin soon, and officials are hoping for a new baseball season in the spring of 2013.

“We are excited and happy to have Ed Kahovec joining the staff,” Bard Athletic Director Kris Hall said. “His proven track record of recruiting success, especially with the kind of student-athletes that can succeed at Bard, makes him an excellent fit for the future of our baseball program and the athletic department overall.”

“Our recruits should know that they’ll have an opportunity to play right away in a first-year program at a school with the academic reputation of Bard College, which is something few programs can offer,” Kahovec added.

As a player, Kahovec made the All-Liberty League Second Team twice, the First Team once, and was named to the All-UAA First Team twice. He played in just nine games as a freshman outfielder, but then moved to shortstop and started 112 games over the final three years of his collegiate career. He batted .318 as a sophomore, .331 as a junior and .372 as a senior, as the Yellowjackets went 18-4 in conference play to grab the regular season Liberty League crown in 2008.

Kahovec had a double major at Rochester – English and Political Science – and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 2008. He then played one season of professional baseball in Germany for the Erbach Grasshoppers, where he was the team MVP, before returning to Rochester as an assistant coach. He was part of the Liberty League Coaching Staff of the Year in 2009.

His work for the Yellowjackets in just three years produced one University Athletic Association and Liberty League Player of the Year, one UAA Rookie of the Year and 11 All-Region and All-Conference selections.

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