ELK GROVE, CA (MPG) - Baseball legends have played in the Cape Cod Baseball League, regarded as the best summer college baseball league in the country, which includes National Baseball Hall of Famers Todd Helton. Frank Thomas, Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell. 

Elk Grove High School alumnus and current Sacramento State redshirt sophomore Kade Brown was able to join that illustrious list last summer after his impressive freshman season. 

“Reggie (Christiansen, Sacramento State’s head coach) pulled me aside before one of the games and told me that there is an opportunity for me to play out in Hyannis with coach Mitch (Karraker) and I was pumped,” Brown said. “That’s the spot to be in the summer.”

The Cape Code League is located on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. The season runs from mid-June though mid-August and each team of the 10 teams that make up the league play 44 games. 

A handful of Major League Baseball scouts make the trip to Cape Cod every year to scout talent leading to over a thousand former players moving on to play in the major leagues, including current stars Marcus Stroman, Ian Happ, Kyle Schwarber and David Bush. 

Brown, a right-handed pitcher, posted a 2-1 record with a 4.70 ERA in 10 games and 15.1 innings pitched with 19 strikeouts in the Cape Cod League.

“It’s the best of the best and that’s what I live for,” Brown added. “Nothing’s going to bring you up and make you better than facing the best hitter from the Southeastern Conference and draft prospects for the next year, so on the field, it was awesome.”

Brown said bigger schools can send multiple players to the league without too much hassle, while he had to work to earn his spot on the Hyannis Harbor Hawks. 

“I wanted to show them that even Sacramento State can send a guy over there and they can dominate,” Brown said. I was trying to showcase my game and help the team win.” 

He said he didn’t go into that summer looking to work on or improve a specific part of his game; he said he mainly wanted to compete. 

“It was just straight baseball and that’s what I love,” Brown said. 

Brown grew up in Elk Grove starting his young career in baseball at eight years old. Although Brown’s parents don’t have a baseball or softball background, his older sister Kenedi Brown pitched for the University of California, Davis softball team where she still holds the record for career leader in numerous categories including wins, saves, starts and strikeouts.

“I look up to her,” Kade Brown said. “She was obviously an awesome player at Davis and through high school, so she’s left a standing at that school, and I respect that a lot.”

While Kenedi Brown succeeded at UC Davis, Kade was at Elk Grove High School, where he reunited with Jason Jimenez, Elk Grove High School pitching coach, alumnus and former major league pitcher. 

“My journey with Kade started when he was probably like seven or eight,” Jimenez said. “We started with Elk Grove Youth Baseball All-Stars where I first met him, and our journey together continued all the way through his senior year at Elk Grove.” 

Brown was pulled up to varsity for his sophomore season, but his season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He took the opportunity to work on his body, going from a stringy 6-foot-2, 140 pounds to an imposing 6-foot-5 and 180-plus pounds. 

“Even as a little kid his pitches were pretty much the same. When he got to the varsity level with me, he threw strikes just like he did as a little kid,” Jimenez said. “Obviously, the velocity changed quite a bit as he matured and got stronger, so that was helpful to his development as a pitcher and started to open up some eyes of some schools.”

Brown finished his varsity career at Elk Grove High School with a 5-5 record and 67 strikeouts across 20 appearances and 71.2 innings pitched. His performance drew interest from Sacramento State and Christiansen, who he had experience with after playing for his travel team in the past. 

Brown wasn’t going to pass up this opportunity, as he describes Christiansen as one of the best coaches he’s ever played for. 

“I’m very happy for him, and his family, as well as proud. I was excited that he was getting the opportunity to play for coach Christiansen and a successful program like Sac State,” Jimenez said. 

The excitement to begin his college career was shut down temporarily just three days into his first semester as Brown tore his ACL when a teammate jumped in for a hug while Brown wasn’t looking. 

This could’ve been detrimental to Brown’s opportunity to remain on the team as a preferred walk-on, but Christiansen reaffirmed to him that he was going to be a big part of this program. 

“That night it was tough to sleep, and I was just thinking to myself like, ‘Oh, I’m getting cut.’ I mean, I’m already a walk-on. He has no reason to hold me here,” Brown said. “But Reggie being the guy he is, he calls me the next day; ‘Hey, don’t worry about it, you will be a big part of it when you get back.” 

The reassurance from Christiansen helped him mentally, as he didn’t have to be on edge during his rehab process. 

During the 2023 season, Brown was a redshirt, and his teammates really picked him up and made the rehab process fun for him. 

“It was a tough process, but I mean, I loved it. I loved all those guys on that team. It was fun and they kept it fun for me,” Brown said. “They could have easily shut me out because I wasn’t playing at the time, and they really helped me through it for sure.” 

Post-surgery, it took until August of 2023 to get cleared, which was the start of his second year at Sac State and his redshirt freshman season. 

The determination and hard work from Brown were just one of many things that Kenedi Brown said she is proud of when it comes to his baseball career. 

“I think proud is one word to describe how I feel about Kade and his career, but I’m also in awe of the things that he’s been able to accomplish and push through,” Brown said. “He hasn’t had the best of luck with accidental injuries, but he never deters from the path he wants to be on. He is so strong and driven and that makes me the most proud.”

As the fall was coming to an end, the idea was being discussed by Christiansen and his coaching staff about Kade Brown being the team’s closer as a redshirt freshman. 

Jimenez said Brown has developed that confidence through the work he’s put in on the mound.  

“Obviously to be successful at the level he’s pitching at, and hopefully at the next level of professional baseball, he’s going to need that confidence,” Jimenez said. 

With Brown going to the Cape Cod League and competing among the elite, his sister, just like Jimenez, believes that if he puts his mind to it, he can make it to professional baseball. 

“Kade has the most discipline and determination out of every person I’ve ever met,” Kenedi said. “I know if it’s something that he wants to do, like play in the MLB, he’s going to give it his fullest effort to get there, and he won’t stop until he does. That’s just the kind of person he is.”

In his first season back on the mound, Brown posted a 3.72 ERA, a 3-3 record in 22 appearances with eight saves in 38.2 innings pitched. 

He led the WAC in opponent batting average with a .189 average, and his eight saves were the most by a Sac State freshman since 2013. 

Brown was named the WAC Co-Pitcher of the Week in April after saving two games in wins against the University of Southern California, where he struck out a batter in an inning of work on April 19 and punched out three in 2.1 innings two days later. 

Brown boasted a fastball, splitter and slider during his first season at Sacramento State. 

He added a sinker and a curveball to add to his repertoire of pitches during his stint in the Cape Cod League.

Brown is back and focused on Sacramento State with clear goals in mind to further his development.

“I just want to put Sacramento State back on the map,” Brown said.