Notre Dame baseball: Irish secure recruiting commit, Niko Kavadas wins minor league award
New Notre Dame baseball coach Shawn Stiffler received a commitment from a talented two-way player from the state of Illinois this week. Sterling (Ill.) Newman Central Catholic class of 2024 lefty Brendan Tunink announced his decision to play for Stiffler and the Fighting Irish on Twitter Monday.
Tunink stands 5-11 and weighs 165 pounds. He hit .529 with 26 RBI and held a 1.12 earned run average in 43.2 innings pitched as a sophomore. He struck out 55 batters and hit four home runs.
The Irish currently have 13 players committed in the class of 2023, including football recruit Drayk Bowen of Merillville (Ind.) Andrean High School. Tunink was the Irish’s eighth commit in the class of 2024.
Here are all eight of those prospects.
| Player | Perfect Game rank | Position | Height | Weight | B-T | Hometown | State |
| Calder Glassman | 113 | RHP | 6-2 | 195 | R-R | New York | NY |
| Jayce Lee | 195 | OF | 6-3 | 175 | R-R | South Bend | IN |
| Brenson Watters | 342 | 1B | 6-2 | 190 | L-L | Rochester Hills | MI |
| Oisin Lee | 361 | RHP | 6-6 | 190 | R-R | Newton | MA |
| Richard Cromartie | 413 | 3B | 6-0 | 175 | S-R | South Bend | IN |
| Jonathan Holt | 474 | SS | 6-2 | 190 | R-R | Glen Mills | PA |
| Brendan Tunink | >500 | OF | 5-11 | 165 | L-L | Oregon | IL |
| Charlie Vercruysse | >500 | SS | 6-2 | 180 | R-R | Bloomington | IL |
Notre Dame football
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Former Notre Dame 1B Niko Kavadas wins minor league award
Niko Kavadas played first base for the Fighting Irish during Notre Dame’s ACC Championship season. He started all 47 games and mashed 22 home runs on his way to helping the Irish to the Starkville Super Regional. They were one win away from the College World Series, a ticket they punched this past summer in former head coach Link Jarrett‘s final year with the program.
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Kavadas is now the Boston Red Sox’s No. 21 overall prospect. He hit .280 with a .990 OPS and 26 home runs in 120 combined games in Single-A, High A and Double-A in 2022. Kavadas led all Red Sox minor leaguers with a slugging percentage of .547.
A step up in competition hasn’t stopped Kavadas from hitting the long ball, something he did as well as anyone in college baseball in 2021. He hit a 418-foot home run in his first Double-A postseason at-bat earlier this month.
