Baseball has always been on Niko Kavadas’ mind. From his high school days attending camps all around the midwest to his college days as one of the best hitters in the nation to being drafted into one of the most historic sports franchises in the world, Kavadas’ drive and passion for the game of baseball has remained true.
Growing up, Kavadas could practically walk from his house to the University of Notre Dame. As one of the premier baseball colleges in the nation, Notre Dame boasts a talented roster of countless former and current major leaguers. Kavadas would spend his Saturdays with his family outside the university, tailgating for his favorite ballplayers there.
“I grew up going to those games and watching guys like Jeff Samardzija and Aaron Heilman, and AJ Pollock,” Kavadas said. “They had such an impact on my career because I looked at them and that’s where I wanted to be and I had those figures in my life to look up to.”
In 2018, Kavadas’ dream to play for the Fighting Irish came true. In four years there, he slugged 45 home runs, and in his final season (2021), helped lead them to the Starkville Super Regional finals, where they ultimately faltered to the eventual national champions Mississippi in three games. But after almost 1,500 days, 161 games, and four years as a Domer, Kavadas had become a beloved player in recent Notre Dame history.
One guy that really inspired Kavadas in his four years at Notre Dame is current Oriole Trey Mancini.
“He’s met with us on campus, he’s done Zoom calls with us, you know, what it takes to be a big leaguer and stuff, so to have his support and to have his wisdom has been really really cool,” Kavadas said.
Learning from Mancini and other major leaguers helped Kavadas understand what it took to reach the sport's highest level. Last year, he became the Red Sox’s 11th round pick in the 2021 amateur draft and ultimately signed with them for $250,000.
But for Kavadas, the draft process wasn’t any walk in the park.
“It was an agonizing process,” Kavadas said. “You’re fielding phone calls the entire week leading up, then it goes kind of quiet, two-three days before the draft and then all of a sudden it’s the day that you’re intending to be selected and it’s phone call one after another.”
To pass the agonizing time, Kavadas stayed glued to his TV while reminiscing about old experiences and recognizing familiar faces.
“When it’s quiet you’re just watching MLB Network, and I was just watching names get pulled off the board. Guys that I recognized, guys that I had played with, guys that I’ve played against. After four years in college baseball, you begin to understand where everyone’s at, and where a bunch of the really talented players are coming from.”
After 48 hours of scanning names across the television, answering countless phone calls from scouts and agents and impatiently waiting to finally get the call, Kavadas found out some of the best news of his life thus far: he had been drafted by the Boston Red Sox.
On the line to share the news was Red Sox midwest area scout Alonzo Wright, who Kavadas had gotten to know well as an amateur.
“He's someone that I trust and someone who keeps in contact with me to this day. His job’s not over, which is really cool,” Said Kavadas. “He cares about us as people, every bit as much as he does about us as a player, and I think that that’s something that makes him special and that makes the Red Sox organization special.”
It’s clear that Wright cares just as much about Niko as Niko does Wright, having nothing but praise for the slugger:
“Everybody can see the talent that Niko has, it’s easy on the eyes, but getting to know him off the field was probably the most enjoyable,” Wright said. “I’ve seen him hit balls at the lights, hit them over batters' eyes, but talking to him and the maturity of the kid is something that you gravitate towards. Niko for me was one of those guys that regardless of where he ended up, I was going to be pulling for that guy, happy for him with whatever he did to succeed. His personality and who he is, you just gravitate towards that.”
Chaim Bloom and the rest of the front office certainly did too.
After being drafted by Boston, Kavadas found himself playing in the Florida Complex League. Producing a hefty 137 wRC+ in eight games, he soon slugged his way to Low-A Salem, where he became close with another powerful infielder.
“[Blaze Jordan] is an awesome guy and a guy that I identify with off the field,” Kavadas said. “I think that having a guy like Blaze who has such a high baseball IQ and understands what he needs to be doing in the box to be successful, is really helpful for me because we can bounce those ideas off each other. It’s like I got an extra swing coach here that I can count on at all times and that’s been really, really nice for me.”
Jordan was arguably the most well known prospect going into the 2020 draft, when the Red Sox selected him in the third round. Like Kavadas, he’s shown an incredible amount of power that looks like it will certainly translate to the big leagues some day. The tandem of Niko and Blaze should send a message to the rest of the minors, and majors, to look out. Three to four years from now, they could be cruising their way through the major leagues, winning ball games and mashing baseballs.
But right now, Kavadas is focused on the present, having fun, and most importantly, bringing a championship home to wherever he may be.
“You don’t know what you’re going to be looking at a month from now, I don’t know where I’ll be, what I’ll be doing, but I want to compete for a championship,” Kavadas said. “I don’t want it to get to the point where we’re at the end of the season and we’re already eliminated from playoff contention, and you’re just playing to kind of wind down the clock there, I want to play meaningful baseball games, so I think putting our best foot forward each day will give us the best opportunity to compete for a championship, whatever level that may be at. Those games that mean something, when there is something on the line that’s when the game’s fun, so you gotta chase that when you can.”
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