Kern helps power Kelly to Class 2 semifinals

BENTON -- A large chunk of Casey Kern's life revolves around softball.

When she isn't on the field playing the sport, she's either in the stands watching a game or talking about it with her friends.

"I don't think I get tired of it," she said. "I like to play. And I'm with people who also like to play, so that also helps. This is what I want. I quit basketball to focus more on softball. This is what I'm committed to."

Kern provides power in the Hawks' lineup, which will try for the program's first state title since 2004. Kelly faces Marion C. Early in a Class 2 state semifinal game Friday at 11:30 a.m. at Heritage Park in St. Joseph. Even though Kern hits in the cleanup spot, she isn't afraid to throw down a bunt.

"If we need to put the ball in play, she can do that," Kelly coach Rhonda Ratledge said. "Usually if we have runners on, she will move them."

Kern usually makes solid contact when she swings, and that's no accident. She was playing softball out of town almost every weekend over the summer. Even during the winter months she tries to pick up a bat so she doesn't lose the feel for her swing.

"I guess it's just a lot of practice," she said. "Just playing a lot growing up really helped me get experience. I've always had coaches that would pitch to us at batting practice every day."

AARON EISENHAUER ~ aeisenhauer@semissourian.com Casey Kern occupies the cleanup spot in the lineup for the Kelly Hawks.

Kern made her mark as a pitcher earlier in her career. But when she encountered arm trouble, it's little surprise she made a seamless transition to first base.

Kern said that the injury likely was due to overuse. She started playing softball when she was 8 years old, and by the time she was 14, she was playing on three teams to get as much experience as possible pitching. All those innings took a toll on her arm.

"I'm not really sure what's wrong with my arm," she said. "Even overhanded, it doesn't go right anymore. My arm kind of pops out of the socket midway. I can't go in a rotation."

She succeeded as a pitcher during her freshman year at Kelly, but arm problems kept her out of the circle. Ratledge said Kern tried pitching again, but to no avail.

Casey Kern swings at a pitch during the Class 3 sectional game against Twin Rivers last week.

"Seeing her struggle during the offseason, she was trying to get that pitching back and it just wasn't working for her," Ratledge said. "She was struggling and very upset with herself. She was frustrated with the situation and frustrated with her arm that just wasn't cooperating with her.

"She realized she couldn't throw like she had been. I guess her being frustrated in the offseason was a good thing because then she came in focused. She was like, 'OK, I'm not going to pitch, I'm going to focus on first.' She does a good job with her height and scooping the balls at first."

Kern admits that she misses pitching, but she's settled in at first base. Ratledge appreciates Kern's play at first, but understands why the senior misses being in the circle.

"Pitchers put in a lot of time," Ratledge said. "To come to that point where you just aren't going to be able to pitch again, it's devastating. But she's the type of person to come back and rebound and say, 'There's another spot for me.'"

Kern's become so comfortable at first that one of her biggest superstitions revolves around her duties as a first baseman. It involves her warming up her fellow infielders.

"There's two throws to each and then I have to do a little toss that can't be interfered with to the dugout," she said. "If someone touches it or picks it up before it gets to the dugout, I scream. I freak out.

"Especially if our dugout is on third and our third baseman will try to catch it, I'll scream. I'll be like, 'No, no, don't do it.'"

If someone does touch the ball before it gets to the dugout, Kern has to get the ball and try again.

"It's a little different," she said.

Kern does have a few distractions from softball. She enjoys her job as a waitress at Sikeston's Pizza Inn, and she's an avid scrapbooker. Teammate Katee Moore is one of Kern's closest friends and said Kern knows how to have a good time away from softball.

"She is about as goofy as they come," Moore said. "We're hardly ever serious. We constantly argue. It's like the constant, itty-bitty things, we'll make the biggest deal about. We argue over everything. It's ridiculous. We're both hard-headed, so neither one of us ever will give in or give up. So we fight until one of us shuts up or we agree to disagree."

Moore said the arguments range from academics, where both girls are competitive, to throwing balls for the other one to hit.

"If I toss them a little to the left, she says, 'You didn't throw that good. That's why I didn't hit it. I didn't hit that good because you didn't throw it right,'" Moore said. "That's how it is all the time. We laugh about it and I think we entertain everybody else out here. More than anything, they just laugh at us because we're so ridiculous."

One area where they agree is winning a state title. Kern said she'd like a championship to match the one her sister won with Kelly's 1997 team.

"To me it would be everything," Kern said. "I think I speak for all the seniors, this is our last chance to do something."