Submitted photo – Del Norte senior Preston Daniels has been busy preparing for the 2025 high school baseball season by playing at multiple tournaments with the 5-Star Pacific Baseball club over the past five months.

By Ray Hamill — After a busy few months playing at some of the biggest showcase tournaments in the nation, Del Norte senior Preston Daniels is getting a lot of interest from college baseball programs here on the West Coast.

Daniels, who is expected to be one of the top pitchers in the H-DNL next spring, just recently got back from a tournament in the Bay Area and is keen to continue his playing career at the college level after graduating high school next year.

The busy Warriors standout has been playing with the 5-Star Pacific club out of San Jose this year and traveled with the team for four tournaments since the start of the summer while putting himself on the radar of several college programs.

Most recently, Daniels traveled to Arizona with the 5-Star Pacific Black team to play in the Perfect Game Fall National Championships in September and followed that with a trip to the Bay Area to compete in the Five-Tool NorCal Fall Championships in Atherton.

And the Del Norte senior was happy with the way he performed at both prestigious events.

Daniels pitched one game for his team at each tournament, earning all-tournament honors in Arizona, as well as making the top performers list.

He got the start on the mound against the Zinger Prospects West out of Scottsdale and threw a five-inning complete game in hot conditions.

He gave up just two hits and one walk in an 8-0 shutout victory and struck out eight.

He also saw some time at second base during his time in Arizona.

Earlier this month, Daniels made the shorter trek to Atherton and pitched against a team called All In Baseball Elite 18U, throwing 4.2 innings and allowing just one hit and three walks and striking out eight.

His team lost that game 5-3, but all three runs were unearned and Daniels got some more valuable experience as he eyes the move to the collegiate game next year.

“It was challenging,” he said. “It was more about seeing how the Bay Area baseball works. It’s different down there. People play all year round.

“Everybody down there was pretty good. They were pretty good ball clubs and we all competed pretty well.”

During his time with the San Jose based club, Daniels has seen his game improve, which is good news for the Warriors and bad news for the rest of the H-DNL.

He says he has been hitting between 85 and 87 miles per hour with his fastball and 74 to 76 with his curve ball.

Submitted photo

And with the exposure at these tournaments, he has been receiving plenty of interest from several colleges around the state.

“These past few weeks I have got some interest from college programs and I am excited about my future,” he said. “I especially want to thank everyone who has supported me through my journey.”

He has already visited Sierra College and Ohlone College and has been talking with the Feather River coaches, who also have shown some interest in the Del Norte native.

Shasta also has expressed interest in bringing him in for a visit, while he has also talked with coaches from George Fox University.

“I’ve had a pretty decent amount of colleges reach out to me,” he said. “I have to sit down and talk with my parents, but I’m hoping to commit to one of those colleges.”

Daniels says he is hoping to make a decision before the 2025 high school season.

In the meantime, he is continuing to work towards his final season of high school baseball and has been practicing with some of his Del Norte teammates, who are not involved in fall sports.

“We’ve started a little fall ball,” he said. “It’s our first year of fall ball in a long, long time and we’re trying to schedule some (scrimmages) so we can get a little practice in before the season.”

Daniels also says he is glad to be back home after such a busy few months.

“I’m taking a break from traveling right now,” he said. “I’ve just been going and going since the summer.”

And while he’s looking forward to the next chapter in his playing career and education, he admits it won’t be easy to leave the Warriors and his hometown behind when he does make that move.

“I love Crescent City,” he said. “It’s going to be hard to leave.”