SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Santa Clara University baseball graduate pitcher, Cole Kitchen, was one of two California collegiate student-athletes announced this month as the February 2024 recipients of the CalHOPE Courage Award. 
 
The award, presented monthly since February 2022, honors student-athletes at California colleges and universities who have overcome the stress, anxiety, and mental trauma associated with personal hardships and adversity. In addition to being recognized by CalHOPE, $1,000 will be donated in each of their names to support on-campus mental health services at their schools.
 
 Cole will receive his CalHOPE Courage Award trophy from Dave Stewart – former Oakland A's pitching great and member of the Governor's Advisory Council on Physical Fitness and Mental Well-Being – during a pregame ceremony before an upcoming Broncos' home game in April, to be confirmed at a later date.
 
Kitchen faced a heartbreaking setback just before the start of the 2023 season. His younger brother, Cade, was hospitalized from an accidental drug overdose involving fentanyl.
 
Cole returned home to be with his family, but a short time later, Cade passed away. Cole was devastated, but this wasn't his first experience with death. Five years earlier, Cole's friend Jesse Esphorst (JE), a travel baseball teammate at the Garciaparra Baseball Group (GBG) and high school teammate at El Camino Real Charter, was killed in a car accident. Since that day, Cole has written "JE10" on his cap and GBG has "JE10" embroidered on all player hats as a tribute to Jesse.
 
To help with the emotional pain of his brother's death, Cole leaned on his family and the Santa Clara University sports psychology services. Other teammates, athletics department members, and friends shared their experiences with losing a sibling, helping Cole heal.
 
"I'm lucky to be surrounded by such a great support network at Santa Clara," said Kitchen. "Although time heals, this tragedy will never leave us. My family has tried to be very vocal to educate others about the circumstances that led to this tragedy. Last December, my father joined a Los Angeles police officer to give a presentation at my former high school on the dangers of fentanyl. We hope sharing our story can prevent other families from suffering."
 
Despite the emotional turmoil, Cole found solace and purpose on the baseball field.
 
Channeling his grief into focus and with a pin affixed to his hat in honor of Cade, he emerged as the staff pitching ace, leading the Broncos to their first West Coast Conference Tournament title and first NCAA Tournament appearance in 26 years. The senior righthander led the team with 16 starts and 81.3 innings pitched and was second with 68 strikeouts.
 
Cole's excellence extends beyond the baseball field. He earned WCC All-Academic honorable mention honors, graduating last spring with a 3.5 GPA and a degree in bioengineering. He's currently enrolled in the engineering management master's degree program as he completes his final year of baseball eligibility with the Broncos. This season, Kitchen has a 2-1 record with 14 strikeouts in 20 1/3 innings pitched.
 
Kitchen's fellow February 2024 honoree was Julia Betti, a junior ?midfielder for the Sonoma State soccer team. Betti also suffered the loss of a sibling when her older sister, Jenna, was struck by a train when Julia was only 11 years old.
 
About the CalHOPE Courage Award
The monthly CalHOPE Courage Award is presented by the College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA), in association with The Associated Press; CalHOPE, DHCS' crisis counseling and support resource; and the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Mental Well-Being. This year's honorees include Jennika Davis (soccer, UC Irvine); Jennah Loggins (soccer, San Jose State); Nik Trapani (baseball, San Jose State); Elizabeth Fox (water polo, Delta College); Megan Janikowski (soccer, Cal Poly Humboldt); Jamel Pink (football, Reedley College); Brett Johnson (football, California); Gabbie Silva (volleyball, Cal State Dominguez Hills); Cameron Nelsen (volleyball, Antelope Valley College); and Lesown Hallums, Jr. (basketball, Pacific).
 
"CalHOPE is honored to continue recognizing student-athletes statewide who have overcome their challenges to perform their best as both scholars and athletes," said Autumn Boylan, Deputy Director of the Office of Strategic Partnerships for the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), which oversees CalHOPE. "CalHOPE's purpose is to build community resilience and help people recover from disasters and public health emergencies through free outreach, crisis counseling, and support services. We hope that by sharing these stories of courage, all will be inspired."
 
At the end of the school year, two of the student-athletes will be selected as the CalHOPE Courage Award winners. The previous winners were: 2023 - Anysa and Amaya Gray (soccer, California) and Nigel Wilson (basketball, Pasadena City College); and 2022 - Julia Schwayder (lacrosse, Occidental College) and Breyon Jackson (basketball, San Francisco State).
 
Stories about all CalHOPE Courage Award honorees are available at CalHOPECourageAward.org and via social media at @CalHOPE_Courage.
 
Sports information directors at all colleges and universities in California are encouraged to nominate deserving intercollegiate student-athletes through March 2024 at CalHOPECourageAward.org. The honorees will be selected by a panel of writers, editors, The Associated Press, and the College Sports Communicators.
 
ABOUT CalHOPE
CalHOPE is a multi-level campaign run by DHCS to connect people with vital mental health and wellness resources and information to help them find their way during difficult times. CalHOPE offers critical behavioral health crisis counseling programs and uses a public health approach that is focused on strength-based strategies of building resiliency and connecting people to the support they need. CalHOPE partners with the California Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Mental Well-Being to promote the CalHOPE Courage Award. CalHOPE resources may be accessed by calling the program's warm line at (833) 317-HOPE (4673), accessing the live chat feature, or visiting www.calhope.org.
 
College Sports Communicators: The College Sports Communicators is a 3,600-plus member national organization, comprised of the athletic communications, media relations, digital, and creative professionals throughout all levels of collegiate athletics in the United States and Canada. Founded in 1957, the organization is the second oldest management association in intercollegiate athletics. The organization's signature program is the Academic All-America program, honoring thousands of outstanding scholar-athletes annually. To learn more, visit collegesportscommunicators.com.
 
The Associated Press (AP): The AP is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, The AP is the most trusted source of independent news and information. On any given day, more than half the world's population sees news from The AP. For more information, visit www.ap.org.