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-> “I don’t think enough kids realize what it takes to play here,” Daniels said. “I assumed, being a pretty good high school player, I would come in here and play right away. Everyone thinks it’s like a fairy tale world, but it’s not at all. I realized immediately I was with some real talent here.” <-
-> “He’s a truly confident young man,” head coach Jim Penders said. “Not to the point where he is arrogant or conceited, but he has a bearing where he believes he’s going to get the job done and that can be contagious. He works hard on his swing, on his defense, on his body. Physically, he was ahead of a lot of freshmen.” <-
-> Daniels, 6 feet and 190 pounds, hit .287 with a homer and 19 RBI in 101 at-bats, 15 steals in 16 attempts and only one error in 98 chances at second base, where he turned 12 double plays. Because of his willingness to listen and learn, Penders said, Daniels has been a natural at building relationships with players four or five years older.
“There have been a lot of teachable moments, for sure,” Daniels said. “I really started to learn from guys like David Smith and Dom (Freeberger). Those guys are so much more experienced than me and older than me. I can’t thank them enough for what they’ve taught me, things from life to baseball to playing infield to hitting to doing my math homework. They’ve taught me everything.” <-