When Karena and Eric Anderson were looking to settle in Madisonville, they had an important question for the real estate agent.
“One of the first things we asked was, "Where is the park here?'” Karena remembered. “She said absolutely, there was a park a few miles away called Coquille and some (ball) fields at Pine Street. We just wanted to make sure there was something over there.”
Over there on the grass and dirt of Madisonville’s scenic Coquille Park, Kade Anderson first established his routines as a baseball prodigy. His coach back then still marvels at how Kade was ‘mastering his craft’ at a young age.
After a starring role at LSU, helping the Tigers to their historic eighth national title, Kade Anderson is expected to go first, or maybe second, in the Major League Baseball draft, which begins July 13.
He’s the biggest thing to happen in Madisonville since the shipyard. And he is from Madisonville, let’s get it straight.
“I was watching one of those nationally televised games earlier this season and they said Kade was from Mandeville,” laughed Kade’s youth baseball coach and current Madisonville Town Council member Tim Bounds. “I was upset. I’m not sure who pointed it out, but they never made that mistake again. They always say Madisonville now.”
With Kade's birthday in July, Karena remembers how her son wasn’t quite old enough to play at Coquille when they first moved to town. He first played at the nearby YMCA where she recalls bases were thrown in a soccer field and the kids just sort of ran around.
But it didn’t take long for Kade to find a real team and a home playing in town leagues and on travel ball clubs.
“They called that double play, where you played rec during the week and travel ball on the weekends,” Karena said. “That ended up being a lot. We did that for a long time.”
Bounds had a good feeling about Kade early on. He put the youngster in the most important fielding position in T-ball and said Kade's dad thanked him profusely.
“I told him 'I will thank you a lot longer than this, just let me know when he makes his major league debut, because I will be there,'" Bounds recalls.
The family always hoped Kade would be good — what parent doesn’t? — but Karena said the possibilities first started to sink in when her son was 9.
“He tried out for this All-American team and it was different regions throughout the Gulf Coast and he made the team after going to a tryout,” Karena said. “I want to say we were in Southaven, Mississippi, and then we played at Wide World of Sports at (Walt Disney World). That’s when we started noticing, OK, he is pretty good because he was keeping up with these other kids that were really good, too.”
Kade is now a prototypical left-handed pitcher, with a fastball that has bite and a curveball that has spin.
“He was the smallest kid on our team back then, now he’s matured and he’s bigger in stature,” Bounds said. “When he was smaller, he had to work on his craft and I don’t think he fell into the trap of just dominating because of his sheer size. I think that’s a big reason why he’s been so successful. He’s also never satisfied. Whenever I message him, he always just says I have to get better.”
Kade attended nearby St. Paul’s for high school. He shined from the start, but also encountered his first major adversity, having to undergo Tommy John surgery to repair his elbow in the spring of his junior year. LSU still wanted him though, and eased him back into competition as a freshman, where he made 18 appearances with a 3.99 ERA.
This season, Kade was lights out for the Tigers. He compiled a 12-1 record in 19 starts, pitching 119 innings. In the NCAA College World Series, he burnished his legend with a complete game shutout of Coastal Carolina in Game 1 of the championship series.
“The more intense things get, the more intense he gets,” said Bounds, who followed every pitch from home.
Meanwhile, Karena, who grew up in Slidell, was becoming a favorite of the TV cameras, living and dying with every pitch, but maintaining her south h charm during interviews.
“I have been staying off social media, because it’s a little overwhelming. ... I have 247 friend requests on Facebook. What do I do with that?” laughed Karena. “I don’t know who they are.”
Now everyone knows who Kade Anderson is, and where he's from. MLB scouts have flocked to the Anderson house. They're assured they've come to the right place when they enter the small town, with each of the three entrances to the small, riverside town adorned with a sign that reads "Welcome to Madisonville, Home of Kade Anderson."
The family was going to take a quick vacation for the Fourth of July holiday. Kade turned 21 during the break and Karena said her son was looking forward to a vacation. For the Draft on July 13, they were hoping to keep things low-key. That's because as soon as Kade's name is called, the real business begins. There will be contracts to sign and logistics of getting to the minor league city to which he is assigned. There too begins the journey of Kade's ultimate goal - making his way onto a Major League Baseball roster.
“For such a small town, less than 900 residents, we have a strong baseball history," Bounds said. "We’ve had people (from here) do well, but nothing like this. We are honored...It’s wonderful to see his name and our town up on the screen.”
And now, Madisonville and Kade Anderson are ready for their close-up.
“When the (elbow) injury happened when he was a junior, it put things into perspective for us," Karena said. "Oh, my goodness, is this a dream crusher? Can you get past this? So, coming from that to where we are now. … We realize this doesn’t happen for everyone and that this is a special moment and we need to revel in it and embrace it.”