ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - The Bard College Department of
Athletics and Recreation has hired Ed Kahovec as Assistant Athletic
Director/Head Baseball Coach.
Kahovec recently finished his third season on the baseball staff
at his alma mater, the University of Rochester, where he was a top
player for four years.
"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. His role has been wide-ranging during
that time, and has included hitting and infield coach. He was also
responsible for developing and supervising the team's offseason
strength and conditioning program. His main year-round
responsibility, however, was recruiting coordinator.
His work for the Yellowjackets in just three years has produced
one University Athletic Association and Liberty League Player of
the Year, one UAA Rookie of the Year and eleven All-Region and
All-Conference selections.
"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."
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.
He 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,
thanks to the generosity of a donor.
"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."
Kahovec's administrative duties outside of baseball could include
running intramurals and managing the fitness center, which were
duties he also performed at the University of Rochester.
"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 said. "We're going to play fundamentally sound
baseball, we're going to be aggressive on the basepaths, and we're
going to have a hard-nosed approach to everything we do."