Ignoring the MLB draft, Nick Kahle is focused on getting the Huskies back into the NCAA tournament

It would be understandable if Nick Kahle’s mind wandered to early next month, when the amateur baseball draft will take place.

The Huskies star, one of the top catchers in the country, will certainly be selected. But the junior said he is not thinking about it. He said he is in the moment, too busy trying to help the Huskies make another late-season charge to think about anything else. That includes mock drafts, with draftsite.com having Kahle being picked in the seventh round.

“I do a good job of living every day,” he said. “I go out there and compete every day and try to do what it takes to help my team win. If I do that, I think the rest of it will take care of itself. That is the right mindset, just doing my thing, and being me.”

That mindset has paid off with an outstanding season as Kahle has lived up to his billing as a third-team preseason All-American by leading the team with a .347 batting average and 42 runs batted in. But the team has been up and down, with a 24-19 record, including 9-12 in conference play.

The Huskies were in a similar position last year, at 21-20 after losing on May 4. But the team went 14-4 over the next 18 games. The Huskies not only reached the NCAA tournament, they earned their first-ever berth in the College World Series (exiting after two games).

Having won seven of their past nine games entering a huge three-game home series against Utah starting Friday, the Huskies once again seem to be trending in the right direction.

“We’re not trying to compare this year’s team to last year’s team, but the last couple of weeks we’ve been playing a lot better,” Kahle said. “We’re playing more as a group out there, more as a team. Kind of got that energy going again. Last year it was the same thing, we just kind of rallied around each other.”

It helped that Kahle, who caught 97 percent of possible innings last year, got on a roll, hitting all six of his home runs in the final 17 games.

“I was able to start pulling the ball to left field last year, and the first half of the year I really wasn’t able to do that,” said Kahle, who is 5 feet 11 and 195 pounds and has six home runs this season. “It just started to click.”

Kahle takes pride in playing every game at a position that is the toughest on the body. He was the only player to start all 61 games last year and has not missed a start this season.

“It’s a lot of hard work, especially off the field in the weight room and in the training room to put my body in the best position to go out there every day,” he said. “What it really boils down to for me, is loving being out there, loving to play and loving to compete. It’s my favorite thing to do, and now that it’s getting nicer outside, it’s easier to do.”

Kahle was used to nice weather growing up in Southern California, and starred at Chaminade High School in Simi Valley, but he became sold to UW on his visit, as he liked the coaches, the facilities and “it felt like a family atmosphere.”

Kahle said that when he got here, then-UW catcher Joey Morgan and others spent extra time with him, helping him prepare to be a college player. He is now passing that wisdom along.

“It feels like my obligation and the natural thing to do, to be that mentor and help them in any way I can,” he said.

He is also a good classroom example, posting a 3.73 grade-point average his last quarter and making the dean’s list. He is majoring in communications, and plans to get his degree at some point, even with professional baseball seemingly on the horizon.

Kahle came to UW with a reputation as an offensive catcher, but his defense is now a strength too.

“He’s got the tools to be a great catcher,” said assistant coach Ronny Prettyman, who oversees the catchers. “The scouts like him at that position as far as how he sits and he catches the low pitch. He’s turning himself into an elite defender and people really think he will be a quality pro catcher.”

Not that Kahle is ready to talk about that just yet. He is too intent on helping UW back into the NCAA tournament.

“We are a little different team, and I think this team’s going to have to be a little more scrappy,” he said. “We’ve been showing that the past couple of weekends. We’ve got that scrappy mentality back.”