VILLANOVA, Pa. – Prior to this season, all Megan Kern was missing was the college experience. She had the accolades in high school, she performed well enough to get an offer from a Division I institution previously and she had the tools. However, because she lacked the college playing experience, she was an unknown.
 
Kern went on to start all 27 games for the Wildcats this year and had the third-highest batting average on the team. Her 28 hits ranked third on the team and she tied for the team high in doubles with seven. Defensively, she boasted a .937 fielding percentage and recorded three double plays.
 
"I think the biggest thing with Meg, although she doesn't have the college experience, is that she's super mature," Head Coach Bridget Orchard said. "She just has a really good softball I.Q. So, her knowledge almost makes her a veteran in a leadership role and that's why she fit so nicely in that shortstop position. She's a heads-up kind of player."
 
Kern started playing softball when she was "seven or eight" and did not play another sport. However, the game was not her only activity growing up. Kern said that she raced motocross for a while, but eventually gave that up.
 
"I got into it because my dad was into it and my family grew up around four-wheelers and snowmobiles and stuff like that," Kern said. "When it came time to decide, we were looking at the bigger picture and softball could help me get into college whereas motocross couldn't, and softball was the cheaper option. It was a tough decision, but once I started playing softball consistently, I fell in love with the game, so it didn't matter as much."
 
She added that she still has a four-wheeler that she rides, but she is not racing anymore so the odds of her getting hurt are a lot lower.
 
Since she did not have other practices to get to, Kern was able to pour her attention and focus into softball and played year-round. This paid off when she got to high school and played at the varsity level for all four years.
 
While she was a mainstay on the Spring-Ford Area High School team, the position she played was much more fluid. Kern said that she spent time catching and playing third base as a freshman before playing more third base as a sophomore. In her junior season, she was back behind the plate catching for every game. Then as a senior, she was playing shortstop.
 
"I was fortunate," Kern said. "My high school team was very good, I had a really good coach in high school which a lot of people don't get to experience, so I loved high school softball. I started on varsity since freshman year and I didn't have a consistent position. As new people came in and seniors graduated, I just filled in where the gaps were."
 
Kern wrapped up her high school career as a four-time First Team All-Pioneer Athletic Conference selection, PAC MVP as a senior, junior and freshman and helped lead Spring-Ford to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association semifinals. However, she did not need to wait until the end of her career to choose where she would continue to play. Kern committed to play at Saint Joseph's in the fall of her sophomore year.
 
She recalled that the father of a girl on her team was a basketball recruiter for the Hawks at the time and that he got in touch with the softball staff. They went to watch Kern play – a game in which she said she "didn't have the greatest day" – and was offered on the spot that night. Kern said she loved the coaching staff and the team at the time and was content in her decision.
 
"It was kind of overwhelming," Kern said. "I wasn't expecting it at all. I was young when it happened – I think I was 14 – it was just a lot to process at once. It was definitely a relief because I saw other girls on my team still looking and so I felt relief, but it was also a huge decision and it was hard to make. At that point I felt I made the right decision, but I still had nerves and everything."
 
Those nerves may have lessened a little over time, but they never went away. When Kern went on her official visit to Saint Joe's as a senior, something was off. However, she brushed it off as being nervous.
 
"I guess I didn't feel comfortable there," Kern said. "You know that sense when something's just not right? I just had that. Throughout that summer, the assistant coach left to go to La Salle, [former head coach] Terri Adams left the program as well and they were two of the bigger reasons I committed. So, once they were gone, I had some doubts about going, but it was so late in the summer, I stuck it out and I went. I moved in on a Friday – set up my whole dorm and everything – then I moved out the next day."
 
By that Sunday Kern was back home, getting everything unpacked and figuring out her new plan. She enrolled at Montgomery County Community College and was taking classes by that Wednesday. Since she broke her National Letter of Intent, she was suspended for a year until she put in an academic year somewhere. In the meantime, Kern coached at Daniel Boone High School.
 
"That's how I got involved with Villanova," Kern said. "I was coaching at a high school where Sydney Hayes went, so I coached her during her senior year and her sister. Syd's mom approached me because she saw me hitting ground balls and pop-ups and stuff, and she asked if I had any interest in playing again. At that point I was getting the itch to get back and play, but I didn't know if I still had it in me to play DI since I had been off for two years."
 
Despite the doubts, Kern got in contact with Orchard. The process of getting back to playing had started, and it was pretty much out of the blue.
 
"Sydney Hayes' mom coaches travel ball teams and is out in that network, and obviously Sydney plays for us," Orchard said. "I had heard about Megan through Terri Adams who used to coach at St. Joe's, and I had a bunch of people who I could call and do our research. Jen Mineau, who pitched for me at Fordham and was on that staff at St. Joe's, I think came in with the biggest one for me and said this is a great kid, an amazing kid. She didn't talk about her skills as much as her being a person and how she liked her as a person."
 
"We met after the game and set up a tour of campus and everything," Kern said. "Honestly, as soon as I met Bridget and saw campus, I knew that was the fit for me. In my head, I was off for two years, I wouldn't be able to go back to that level of play again, but once Bridget started talking to me, saying I can go to practices and they'll get me back in shape, I felt more confident in going back."
 
While she liked Villanova, Kern did not close her recruiting after seeing campus. She said she went on a few more tours of other schools but did not feel that connection that she did with Villanova.  
 
Not only was the university a match, but the team also had some holes to fill. Delaney Switzer had started all 53 games for the Wildcats at shortstop in 2019, but she had graduated. Although it had been a few years, Kern was tried at the position.
 
"I wasn't really sure if she could play shortstop," Orchard said. "We thought first base maybe, maybe she could catch, so it was a great surprise for us that she was so good at short. I heard she had a great arm, but we didn't know about her range and stuff like that. I was more excited about her bat because she was a big, hitting lefty. I was more excited about her offense than her defense, so I think that was an added bonus. And she hadn't played in a couple years, so you didn't know what you were going to get. She'll probably say she missed a beat, but I was like, 'wow.'"
 
In fact, Kern did say that she was "a little rusty in the beginning," saying that it probably took her a month until she was comfortable seeing live pitching again. However, once she settled in, she ran away with the starting position.
 
Kern added that she never thought that would have happened, and a big reason was because Orchard had never seen her play. Throughout the meetings that the two had, Kern's role was not decided. She even played catcher in the fall for a few innings, but after that she was the everyday starting shortstop.
 
Although Kern was a little surprised that she won the job, Orchard was not. However, she was surprised at how dominant Kern looked during the process.
 
"She no-doubt, hands down won the position," Orchard said. "We wanted her to compete for it, but like, Day One, boom, everyone went to different positions. She has such a cannon of an arm, she's big and strong. The way she dominated at that position, and it's not like she's played it her whole life either, but you wouldn't know that."
 
Athletically a sophomore, Kern thought Orchard was taking a risk when everything first started. However, she said that she thinks that it boosted her confidence level and made her more comfortable. Kern added that it felt like her coach was putting a lot of trust in her, that she felt good because Orchard had the confidence in her. Kern wanted to prove her right.
 
Based off of her production, it is hard to imagine a time when bringing in Kern was a question.
 
In her first season back, Kern was one of the top performers in the BIG EAST. She had the sixth-most hits in the conference and had the eighth best on base percentage. She tied for the third-most doubles and fifth-most triples and had the eighth-most total bases. Kern tied for the BIG EAST lead in walks and had the eighth-most assists.
 
"It's a bummer the season got cut short because she was just starting to get in her comfort zone, which is amazing to think she was hitting as well as she was and having the season she was and she's still coming along," Orchard said. "We haven't seen the best of her yet. She got a lot of experience in those 27 games we played. It was a great first year technically, even though it wasn't a full year, she got the experience and got to see what it was all about."