Submitted photo – Preston Daniels in action for 5 Star Pacific Baseball this summer.
By Ray Hamill — As he gets set for his senior season, Preston Daniels appears determined to get the most out of his final year of high school baseball.
The Del Norte standout has been working hard on improving his game this summer, and more importantly he’s having a lot of fun while doing so.
Daniels has been playing with 5 Star Pacific Baseball out of San Jose, traveling to showcase tournaments on different sides of the nation, including a trip to Georgia to play in the 2024 Perfect Game WWBA 17U National Tournament last week.
“It was definitely an adventure, and it was pretty fun,” he said of his trip to Georgia. “The competition over there is insanely good. It was definitely a fun experience.”
It was also an experience that should put one of the top pitchers in the H-DNL on the radar of some quality college programs.
Playing at the next level has been a goal of Daniels for some time, and it’s something he continues to work diligently towards, which is exactly why he opted to join the Bay Area all-star team this summer.
“I saw there were some big schools their kids are going to,” he said. “And I talked to my parents and we thought it was a great opportunity for me, especially living in a small town.”
Deciding to play for 5 Star Pacific was just the first step, however.
With trips to San Diego, Georgia and Arizona on the team’s schedule, Daniels had to fundraise for himself, and he raised $3,000 on his own to make sure he could take full advantage of the opportunity.
And it’s something that appears to have paid dividends, considering the competition and players he has faced while competing with the team.
“They’re a lot bigger and they’re a lot stronger,” he said. “Everybody there is strong, and it’s really encouraged me to get in the gym and get bigger. The competition there was just awesome. Everybody’s like an MVP. It’s definitely a step up.”
Daniels has been one of the top players in the H-DNL since breaking into the Del Norte starting lineup as a freshman and he earned all-league honors this past spring after receiving an honorable mention as a sophomore in 2023.
This summer, he saw his fastball increase from 82 MPH to 85 during his time with 5 Star Pacific.
He pitched in two of the 10 games he played with the team and also saw some time at the plate.
He went 2-0 in those two starts, allowing four hits in 10 innings and striking out nine for an ERA of 2.10, an impressive statistic considering the quality of the batters he faced along the way.
“I feel like I did really well,” he said. “These are some of the top (high school) players in the nation and even some future Major Leaguers. These guys are good.”
And that’s exactly what Daniels was looking for from the experience, as he begins to focus in on what college he wants to play at after graduation.
“I’ve definitely looked at some colleges,” he said. “I’ve looked at a couple of junior colleges. Division-I, that’s my main goal. I’ve got to hit the gym hard and train hard, and hopefully get a scholarship to a Division-I school.”
Whether that includes a stop at a community college before he takes that step remains to be seen, but working towards that goal won’t be a problem for a player that began playing the game at the T-Ball level as a four-year-old.
And his summer season playing with 5 Star Pacific isn’t done yet.
Submitted photo
Daniels, who has already made trips to San Diego and Georgia this summer, will travel with the team to another showcase tournament in Arizona in September, where he will get the opportunity to play on some of the fields the MLB players play on during spring training.
“I feel like if I keep doing my thing, I can go to a good college,” said the 17-year-old, who wants to keep playing baseball for as long as he can.
He also wants to close out his high school career strong and is hoping the Warriors can continue to improve despite having a different head coach in each of his three years in high school so far.
“One of the goals I have for next year is to get more strikeouts,” said Daniels, who had an impressive 102 strikeouts in his junior season and batted .300. “I also want to get better at hitting.”
For good measure, he also received all-tournament honors in San Diego.
Regardless of where his journey takes him — if he doesn’t make it to the pros some day, he says he wants to be a game warden — Daniels is enjoying his time playing the game he loves.
And that continues to be the case this summer.
“It was definitely a blast (in Georgia),” he said. “I met a lot of new guys and we all get along together. Everybody on the team is positive and the coaches want the best for all of us.”
