It is often said that through disappointment, a person’s true character emerges. That being the case, Kenny Zahn has the type of character that can be held to a high standard.
Zahn is the starting catcher for Hamilton Post 31 this season, but the fact he is still playing baseball at all is a tribute to his mindset.
After coming to Steinert as a catcher, he was moved to shortstop his sophomore season in order to help with a shortage of infielders. Zahn began his junior year as the starting second baseman, only to be replaced by freshman Joey Sacco midway through the season.
A lot of egos could not handle being benched. Even less could deal with a 9th-grader moving ahead of them. Zahn could have sulked or quit and called it a career.
Instead, he worked hard, came back as a senior and was Steinert’s starting catcher and a vital cog in the Spartans drive to the Mercer County Tournament title this past spring.
It’s the kind of determination rarely seen anymore.
“Yup, you hit the nail on the head,” Steinert coach Brian Giallella said. “That type of work ethic and that type of ‘I’m going to prove you wrong’ attitude unfortunately doesn’t exist in kids anymore. It’s just easy enough to walk away. He wasn’t like that. It motivated him to work harder and to change positions, to go back to the position he played a little as a freshman.”
Zahn was the first to admit that being sent to the bench was tough to take and severely brought down his confidence. But it never crossed his mind to quit.
“I knew I had a lot of talent and this was only a bump in the road,” he said. “After getting pulled from the lineup I knew I had to stay positive. The lineup changes every day, and I wanted to make sure I was always ready for an opportunity to get in the game.
“I think I handled the situation well, and I made sure to stay positive. I knew that I wanted to catch my senior year, and I was going to have to work hard to get to where I wanted to be.”
Despite his demotion, Zahn hit .300 in 40 at-bats during his junior season. He scored 12 runs and started 17 of the 27 games he played. Despite his respectable average, he was not happy.
“I really struggled with the bat last year, and I knew I had a lot of work to do in the off-season,” he said. “I spent most of my time at Lights Out Academy training in the weight room and working on my swing. They also taught me about the mental part of hitting, which really helped me have better at bats and become a better hitter.”
He decided to re-focus on catching last summer with Post 31 and played sparingly, but he knew with Anthony Peroni having graduated there would be an opening behind the plate during his senior season.
Zahn won the job and started every game but one for the Spartans. He hit .266 with 12 RBI but Giallella assured that his average was misleading, and the work he did at Lights Out did pay off.
“If you break down his stats, that’s where the numbers lie,” Giallella said. “It’s not a true indication of the season he had. He must have hit another 15 balls hard on the nose that were caught. He was just that type of player. He put the ball in play all the time, and his attitude was infectious for the rest of the team.”
Tracing Zahn’s roots, it’s not surprising to see why he stuck with it after being replaced. While playing in the Nottingham Little League, he did not make the District 12 All-Star teams, but played on the tournament B teams as an infielder. He was introduced to catching at age 12 and loved it right away.
After not making districts, Zahn could have been satisfied with playing in-house for Nottingham Babe Ruth. But he earned the job as a back-up catcher on the 13- and 14-year-old All Star teams, and gained the starting job as a 15-year-old. It was there he caught future Steinert teammates Kyle Muller, Anthony Francioso and David Stec, which helped pay dividends this year.
During his freshman season in high school Zahn played centerfield for the freshman team and catcher for the JV team. As a sophomore, he was starting shortstop for the JV, and he moved over to second the following year.
When Giallella had to inform him of Sacco’s promotion, he was pleasantly surprised at how well Zahn handled it.
“He never took it personally toward me or the other coaches,” Giallella said. “He just used it as motivation. We had brought Joey up and were obviously working him in, and I would just talk to Kenny and try to let him know I’m trying to do what’s best for the team. I knew he obviously was upset, but I also think he kind of knew he could play better.”
He did just that this year, playing solid all season and raising his level of play to new heights in the MCT. Zahn got key hits, threw out baserunners and handled the pitchers flawlessly and was seriously considered for tournament MVP honors (that eventually went to Sean O’Boyle).
“I really just focused on playing how I had been playing all year,” Zahn said. “Just taking every game pitch by pitch and doing whatever it took to help the team win.”
Probably the biggest compliment Giallella could pay Zahn was that, on a team with several seniors who had played varsity since they were sophomores, the catcher became a role model.
“He became the leader of our team,” Giallella said. “You want the catcher to be that leader, that vocal person that everybody looks up to. But he was even beyond that. His whole demeanor on the field, in practice, in school was just something that everyone looked up to.”
Zahn’s attitude has carried over to the summer, as he has finally earned a starting job for Post 31 after serving in a utility role the past two years. And the classy way in which he handled the Steinert situation was not lost on manager Rick Freeman.
“Kenny’s resilience and commitment to improve is a quality that is respected by his teammates and coaches,” Freeman said. “The fact that he continued to be a good teammate despite personal disappointment shows what a special kid he is. His hard work and belief in himself is paying off.”
Zahn will join Kevin Kerins’ powerhouse Mercer County Community College program in the fall, and during the summer he and his teammates hope to make up for a tough state tournament appearance, in which top-seeded Steinert was upset in the second round.
“I’m hoping to have a good season and help my team win as many games as possible,” Zahn said. “As a team, we’re really hoping to win a state championship and hopefully play well enough and get a chance to play in the World Series in August. The loss in states for high school was rough, but we’re gonna use it as motivation for the summer.”
And if Kenny Zahn has proven anything, it’s that he certainly knows how to turn adversity into positive motivation.
Kenny Zahn catches for Hamilton Post 31 June 12, 2016 during a 6-2 loss to Allentown at Steinert High School. (Photo by Suzette J. Lucas.),
