High School

Former Harlan Standout Inks with SEC Baseball Power

Cade Sears will go from Harlan to Iowa Central to Vanderbilt

Dana Becker

Harlan's Cade Sears, right, and Nevada's Connor Kunze run the 3A 100 meter dash during the Iowa high school state track and field meet at Drake Stadium on Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Des Moines.
Harlan's Cade Sears, right, and Nevada's Connor Kunze run the 3A 100 meter dash during the Iowa high school state track and field meet at Drake Stadium on Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Des Moines. / Lily Smith/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK

Former Harlan High School standout Cade Sears made the most of his stop in junior college baseball.

Sears announced his commitment to play for SEC baseball power Vanderbilt on social media recently.

This past spring, Sears hit .270 with 31 stolen bases and 10 extra-base hits, helping Iowa Central Community College reach the semifinals of the NJCAA Div. II World Series. He also compiled splits that included a .448 on-base percentage and 

An outfielder, Sears is currently playing in the Northwoods League over the summer, hitting .325 with 13 steals. 

Cade Sears started out playing college football

Coming out of Harlan as a multi-sport standout, Sears elected football for his college choice. After departing from the baseball team early as a senior, he joined South Dakota State to compete on the gridiron.

The love of baseball, though, brought Sears to Fort Dodge to be coached by a fellow former Harlan standout in Iowa Central head baseball coach Eric Stein. Heath Stein, Eric’s brother, coached Sears at Harlan.

Baseball has been the sport of choice for the Sears family. One older brother, Dillon, played at Western Illinois University for five seasons. Another, Brett, also competed for Iowa Central and Nebraska before becoming a Major League Baseball draftee by the Atlanta Braves where he continues to climb through the minor league system.

Vanderbilt is a two-time winner of the College World Series and has also placed second twice more. They have 15 combined regular season and tournament conference titles, including two SEC Tournament crowns in 2023 and again this past spring.

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Dana Becker
DANA BECKER

Dana Becker has been a sports writer in Iowa since 2000, writing for The Fort Dodge Messenger, Mason City Globe-Gazette, Cedar Rapids Gazette and others. Dana resides in northcentral Iowa and started as a writer with SB Live Sports in 2022 focused on the state of Iowa. Along with providing coverage of football and wrestling, Dana also spotlights cross country, swimming, basketball, track and field, soccer, tennis, golf, baseball and softball. He began writing for High School on SI in 2023.

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