​If you wanted to find the best athlete at Bingham high school, chances are you would run into Kade Cloward. Cloward is a two-sport star, playing football and baseball. He has three rings for these sports, including two for football (2013-14 and 2014-15) and one for baseball (2013). As a star for both sports, Cloward has gained great success in his high school career and plans to continue it in his upcoming endeavors.
​Cloward received numerous awards and recorded incredible stats over three years as a varsity football starter. Known as a very versatile player, Cloward played strong safety, punt returner and kick returner, and sometimes wide receiver. As the head of a stout, defensive minded team, Cloward proved to lead. He recorded 228 tackles, ten interceptions, and four recovered fumbles in three years. He also obtained co-MVP for region 3 in 2014-15. These stats and awards didn’t occur simply by luck.
“I’ve been playing for quite a while, and I’ve got some good coaches that help me out,” he said. Cloward mentioned he has been playing both sports ever since he was a kid. Natural talent and lots of experience result in a tenacious formula for athletic ability.
For football, Cloward was Bingham’s go-to receiver for their fake punt play. Whenever the team lined up to punt, which wasn’t very often, senior Michael Green would often catch a direct snap and hit Cloward on a fly route. His trusted hands had four catches for 74 yards, all while the defense was caught snoozing.
Cloward’s baseball career parallels his football career as far as success. For Bingham’s Prospector, Cloward received athlete of the month award for November in football. As baseball season quickly came, Cloward was also nominated by coach Joe Sato for athlete of the month in April, but wasn’t selected simply because he already had won it for football.
The 5’10 infielder has recorded solid stats for baseball as well. In two varsity seasons, Cloward has played 51 games, batted .401, had 69 hits, 36 RBIs and 30 runs. These impressive numbers are backed by the two sports building on each other for heightened potential.
“Football helps me get stronger, and that transfers well into baseball when I’m hitting,” he said. “Defense in football helps with [defense in] baseball. You can read things quicker and adjust better.”
Championships are nothing new to Cloward. Being a star player on multiple championship squads is a feeling he enjoys.
“It’s just unreal. All that hard work pays off, and sending off the seniors like that just feels good.”
With the 5A baseball state tournament coming up, Cloward hopes to fill four fingers on his hand, as Bingham has proved to be a state contender.
For future plans, Cloward intends to play at the college level and focus on baseball. He has not received many offers or scholarships, but based on how his high school career is going, playing college ball shouldn’t be a problem.