‘A program-changer’: Freshman slugger Taryn Kern rewriting IU softball record books

BLOOMINGTON — Reminiscing on a catch in which she went face-first down stairs, Taryn Kern expressed gratitude.

“Thank God there was an opening in the dugout there,” she said, “and I didn’t smash my head into the wall.”

It was during IU softball's game against Purdue in March that Kern tracked a popup toward the dugout. Kern, who was playing second base, raced to her left, before lunging onto the warning track in foul ground. Her momentum took her face down the dugout stairs, appearing almost like she was gliding through a slip ‘N slide on a hot summer day.

This type of effort is not new for Kern. When coach James Jimenez first watched 12-year-old Kern at a softball tryout, one of the things that stood out about her was diving for balls. “She dove for balls at least two or three times a tournament,” Jimenez said. In high school, it actually became a running joke. Kern made so many diving plays in practices her teammates initially didn’t make much of a deal about it.

Defense is only part of her flourishing game. Kern is tied for first in the NCAA with 22 home runs, an IU single-season record, and holds the program record for most RBs (67), too.

Another eye-opening part? Kern is a freshman.

IU coach Shonda Stanton called her “a program-changer.” The Hoosiers, having a breakout season, are chasing their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2011. Part of that is thanks to Kern, who is a stuntwoman on the field and adventurer off it.

That diving play she made at Purdue? It went viral.

After making the catch, she emerged from the dugout with a big smile on her face, holding her glove in the air to show she had the ball.

“She came up like she just made the sickest play of the year down stairs and was still totally fine,” said Megan Yocke, who coached Kern at Archbishop Mitty High School in California. “I wanna say my gut reaction was just like, yep, that’s Taryn.”

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Go sit in a bucket.

As a youngster playing softball, Kern was still trying to learn how to deal with emotions. After Kern was at the plate and made an out, she used to cry. But her father, Chris, who was coaching her at the time, had a system to help Kern manage her disappointment. Kern would sit in a bucket, her body so small that she could sink into it. She’d then cry out her frustration.

Kern grew up in a family passionate about baseball. Chris played baseball at Gonzaga. Kern’s mother, Tilena, has brothers that played baseball. Even if it wasn’t in softball, Kern’s desire to succeed was evident as she grew up. She wrestled with her younger brother. “Our easter egg hunt is a pretty competitive deal,” Chris said. Playing soccer with boys during lunch at school was the highlight of her day and she poured so much into it she would be dripping with sweat.

It wasn’t just on the softball field making diving catches that Kern takes risks. Tilena described Kern as “a thrill seeker.” Kern went swimming with whale sharks in the Philippines. She has been on drop towers and rollercoasters. She went on a zipline in which she hung upside down and dangled over a cliff. She ate snail in France, which was served with the shell still on. “Dirt,” Kern said of what snail tastes like.

“I just think that life is meant to be lived to the fullest,” Kern said. “And I’ve had lots of amazing opportunities in my life. Like with my family specifically just growing up, so, like, take those opportunities and have some amazing experiences. I think that things are a lot of times scary, but once you get over your fear of it, you don’t regret doing it and it becomes super fun and exciting.”

Chris and Tilena helped mold Kern’s character by instilling lessons on how to handle herself in life. Go sit in a bucket after making an out to get your frustration out. If Kern got in trouble because of something with her siblings, she had to write an essay to the effect of why she was in the wrong and what she was going to do better next time. Kern ordered for herself at restaurants and asked people in public if help was needed.

When Kern was in high school, a teammate was crying before practice. Kern helped calm her down. A situation like this happened on multiple occasions, Yocke remembers.

“She’s extremely compassionate and has great intuition in her relationships with people,” Tilena said. “And she can read people really well and she can assess situations very well. That’s one of her gifts.”

That Kern mashes so many home runs now is actually the opposite of what it used to be. She mostly wasn’t a power hitter growing up but grew into one toward the back end of her high school career. Jimenez points to Kern’s work ethic as to why it happened. Kern frequently reached out to him asking to hit. Kern said she put more focus into hitting with power. Part of it, too, Kern attributes to the aftermath of committing to IU.

“I think what happens is a lot of people commit and they get complacent or content and kinda stop working or they’re ‘like I reached my goal, I committed to play softball in college,’” Kern said. “But for me, it was more of a motivator, like OK I committed like everything’s just starting. I want to be at my best when I get there and do big things in college.”

Finding a home hitting bombs in Bloomington

On a night early in her freshman year at IU, Kern was doing homework alone at the softball facility.

Kern was struggling with the transition to college and feeling homesick. Her recruitment to IU was not normal. Because of COVID-19, she actually committed to IU without even having visited IU in person. Stanton watched Kern play through live stream and recruited her through Zoom.

“I think both of us took chances on each other with the limited ability to be seen,” Stanton said.

Being away from home was difficult. The Kern family is tight-knit. They frequently had family dinners. Because they were on the road so much for sporting events, they traveled around in an RV. But facing this challenge of being far from home was actually something the family actually sought out for Kern. They targeted schools in the Midwest and East Coast to put Kern in a position to be away from home and grow as a person.

On that night early in her freshman year, Kern was visibly upset. Stanton forgot something and saw Kern. She stayed to have a conversation with Kern, presenting ways to deal with the situation. It wasn’t just that exchange with Stanton, but also Kern talking with her mother. They brainstormed coping mechanisms. What are some things that make you feel good? Tilena told Kern to connect with new people.

Kern found spots in Bloomington that make her feel comfortable. She goes to The Chocolate Moose, where she orders Pineapple Dole Whip. She goes to the Starbucks at the Indiana Memorial Union, where she orders a vanilla latte. And when the team started playing games, IU truly felt like it was becoming home.

“She’s done a really good job of learning how to make Bloomington her home,” Tilena said. “And we’re super proud of her for doing that because that is part of growth in your life, right? Like I tell her, your home’s always gonna be here, but you’re also taking a new step. And so I feel like she’s done a really good job with that. And it hasn’t been easy.”

Kern has helped spur a breakout season for IU softball. The Hoosiers finished the regular season with a 40-15 record. It's the program’s most wins in a season since they won 49 in 1994. In her sixth year with the Hoosiers, this is Stanton’s winningest season as IU's head coach. At one point this season, Indiana rattled off 23 wins in a row. The Hoosiers are the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten tournament and are set to play on Thursday.

Some of that has been carried by Kern, who Stanton said is “raising the standard of what it looks like to be an Indiana softball player.” Kern’s statistics are almost otherworldly. She has started all 55 of IU’s games this season, hitting .438 with an on-base percentage of .605, plus scoring 65 runs.

The freshman phenom is launching home runs, making diving catches, including down dugout stairs, and perhaps most importantly, smiling.

“When I see her in Bloomington, she’s the person I know as Taryn,” Tilena said. “And she just is continuing to stay true to herself.”

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana Hoosiers softball: Freshman Taryn Kern leads NCAA in home runs