By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Publisher It’s not often that a guy like Dan Kern is brought to tears. But on Father’s day he couldn’t hold back his emotions. His son, Billy, coach of the Mainland Regional baseball team, presented him with a 3-foot by 5-foot collage of photos and news clippings that not only told the tale of the Mustangs’ state championship season, but also of a life in baseball. “We have a family sports den where we have all the photos and certificates and I had to take some of that stuff down to make room for that,” Dan said. “It’s going to get some really prominent wall space in there. We talked about all the pictures for hours.” The Kerns are like the modern-day version of the Boones, albeit on a local level. Ray Boone played in the major leagues, as did his son Bob and grandsons Bret and Aaron. Similarly, Dan Kern coached for 10 years at Holy Spirit and now Billy is coaching at Mainland, along with brothers Dan and Brian, who serve as varsity assistants. These days the elder Dan still helps coaching players in the summer, and during the varsity season he and wife Cindy (they were high school sweathearts) are up in the press box, Cindy working the scoreboard and Dan calling out the lineups. That’s what made the Mustangs’ run to a Group 3 state championship all the more special. It was a family affair for the coaching staff, as they would gather for dinner sometimes and talk about all the games, could Mainland go all the way, is it really possible? “It was very exciting for our family. Almost every night we would get together and talk about the game, who did well. I always believed in my son. I coached him for several years and he was like a coach on the field for me. All my friends used to tell me that someday he would be a great coach, and it was cool to watch it happen,” the elder Dan said. “His mother was the least nervous of the two of us. She was pretty confident. She said after they beat Hamilton (in the Group 3 semifinals) she felt like they were going to win it, and she wouldn’t back off of that.” 
Mainland Regional baseball coach Billy Kern gets a hug from his father, Dan (facing), after the Mustangs captured the Group 3 state championship this season in early June. (Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan) Billy said that having his brothers by his side in the dugout made this season that much more special, and he knows the family created memories that will last a lifetime. “It’s nice to have that kind of accomplishment and have my brothers in the dugout, and obviously my parents have supported us in everything we do in our baseball careers. It was obviously something special. At the dinner table we’re always talking about baseball,” Billy said. “We enjoy being around each other. We have a bunch of guys who love baseball and love teaching the game of baseball. We always tell our significant others that practice will be over at 5 p.m., but I don’t think we ever get home on time. There’s always extra ground balls or extra batting practice, or just talking about the game. It’s a really enjoyable experience.” Even the players recognized throughout the playoffs that what they were doing meant a lot to the Kern family. “(Coach Kern) played for Mainland as well. He was a shortstop and his team was considered the best in Mainland history because they had a couple of D-I guys on that team,” senior outfielder Drew Riska said. “But he said after (the state championship) ‘don’t let anybody tell you this is not the greatest team in Mainland baseball history. Don’t let anyone take that away from you.’ He knew how special it was.” “That must be an awesome feeling for him. And for us, too, it was an all-around fun season. We couldn’t have asked for anything else. The baseball gods were really with us,” said junior infielder Matt McLaughlin. Said assistant coach Mike Camac, himself a father: “They love each other very much and for them to have that all together, it’s awesome for the family. And the dedication they have toward Mainland baseball, and baseball in general in the area, it’s second to none. They are a close-knit family and it means a lot to them. Seeing his son do that, as a father that’s phenomenal.” The elder Dan Kern said he is proud of how close-knit his family remains, even as his sons have begun starting families of their own. “A lot of people might not get it because these days it’s kind of hokey, I guess, for a family to be this close. These days people just don’t do stuff together like we do. My three sons, they are like each other’s best friends,” Dan said. “If I passed away tomorrow I’d feel really good because I know they would be there for each other. They are that close.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays [adsense]
A baseball dream come true for Kern family
