Kern’s bat, leadership nets her Mercury All-Area POY

Pose a question as to whom the most feared hitter is in the Pioneer Athletic Conference and 10 out of 10 times Spring-Ford’s Megan Kern’s name will be mentioned … and for good reason.

For three years, Kern’s longstanding dedication to her craft, both offensively and defensively, propelled her to new heights.

Her junior season was the payoff. Her leadership and her red-hot bat were the catalyst to the Rams advancing to the quarterfinals of the District 1-AAAA playoffs all while clinching their first PAC-10 title since the 2013 season.

For that, Kern earns the title of 2016 Mercury All-Area Softball Player of the Year.

“It’s an honor because everyone in the PAC-10 is competitive,” Kern said. “I don’t expect anything, I thought 10 other people could have been named it, so it’s an honor to be able to receive the award.”

“Her work ethic has never changed,” Spring-Ford head coach Tim Hughes said. “She’s good, and talented but I think the reason she’s that way is because she leaves the field the dirtiest. She will crash through fences, dive in practice, run hard and slide hard. I’m not sure what comes first, the talent or the work ethic but I can tell you that they have a lot in common. Most of the kids that have that work ethic are pretty darn talented.”

Kern’s honor is the first to go to a softball player outside Birdsboro in the past five years after the sensational Daniel Boone pitcher Bekah Slattery took home the honor the past three years in succession of Blazer pitcher Katie Erb’s two-year streak.

The Daniel Boone duo made their mark with power pitching and strikeouts.

Kern made her mark with power hitting and avoiding the strikeout.

“Typically I don’t really see inside pitches anymore so at home I was focused on hitting the outside pitches and waiting on the ball,” Kern said. “At the plate it’s all about hitting the pitch that I want to hit and not letting her force me to hit the pitches that she wants to throw. It’s all about working the count.”

Batting from the No. 2 spot in the lineup her junior season with big bats surrounding her, opposing pitchers were forced to pitch at her, not around her. Kern took advantage and raked at the plate, her .528 average ranked second in the conference, her gaudy .833 slugging percentage tops in the conference. That all was paired with 13 walks and a team-best seven doubles.

“We led her off last year and she got walked about 16 times in a row,” Hughes said. “This year I thought, let’s try something new. The best thing about it was how open she was to the idea. She’s not one of those players who would want to hit first or hit third for the RBIs. She wants to do what’s best for the team and that’s one of the special things with her.”

That mindset filtered to her defensive efforts, her leadership becoming an instrumental part of the Rams’ championship season.

After playing multiple positions her first two seasons to fill team needs, the ever-adaptable Kern moved to a full-time catcher’s position and was a major contributor to the growth of freshman Sam Lindsay in the circle, her 2.75 ERA fourth among qualifying PAC-10 pitchers.

“As a catcher I knew it was important to bond with your pitcher,” Kern said. “Over the winter I’d catch Sam’s pitching lessons and drive her home all the time. During the season I just wanted to make sure she was comfortable and keep that bond going.”

“It was a luxury to have to take a girl like Megan and be like ‘Hey, we need you at third today or hey, we need to put you at short,’” Hughes said. “The one thing going into this year, I was saying we were going to keep her at catcher and be stable at a lot more positions. It was the first time ever that I didn’t call pitches. It was difficult at first and I rarely entrust that with anyone. She did a great job.”

Kern’s presence on the field paid dividends again for the Rams as they built on their previous years’ success by compiling another respectable PAC-10 finish, their 14-4 regular season record good for the second seed in the PAC-10 Final Four that also stood as their fifth season with at least 14 conference wins in the past six years. (13 in 2015). The Rams got past Owen J. Roberts 4-2 in the PAC-10 semifinals before meeting with Perkiomen Valley in a rematch of 2015’s championship tilt that saw the Vikings hoist the trophy.

This year, history didn’t repeat itself. Led by Kern’s two-hit, two-RBI performance, and a dominant offensive showing across the board, the Rams struck for six runs in the fist two innings before hanging on for a 6-2 victory for the team’s first championship since 2013.

“That moment was really good,” Kern said. “After those two years of hard work and getting there and not finishing it, it was the finishing moment. It felt that all the hard work finally paid off.”

What isn’t finished is her Spring-Ford career, as Kern will return for her senior season in 2017.

What will she do for an encore?