Photo by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Preston Daniels reacts after a victory at McKinleyville earlier this year.
By Ray Hamill — Of all of this year’s six finalists for the 2025 Humboldt Sports baseball Player of the Year, one stood out above all others.
Del Norte’s Preston Daniels has enjoyed a tremendous career playing for the Warriors and has been a thorn in the side of the rest of the conference programs for the past few years.
But Daniels, who has worked hard on his craft, enjoyed his best season yet in a Warriors uniform this spring and it was reflected in both his statistics and the manner in which he approached each and every game.
Not only was the Del Norte ace the best pitcher in the H-DNL this year, but he’s quite probably the best pitcher we’ve seen here since the legendary Nick Dugan left St. Bernard’s for Stanford in 2022.
But that’s just half the story when it comes to Daniels.
He was also one of the Warriors’ emotional leaders and his infectious enthusiasm helped carry his team over the line when the pressure was building late in the campaign.
Statistically he led the Warriors with eight wins in 13 starts and had an impressive ERA of 1.01.
He was particularly effective in conference play, refusing to come out at times and battling against some of the hottest bats in the Big 5.
Daniels will now take his talents to the college fields after committing this year to play for Linn-Benton Community College in Albany, Oregon, which he hopes will be a stepping stone to a top four-year program after his time there.
He put himself on the Roadrunners’ radar during his sophomore season at Del Norte, when he appeared at a showcase event with his summer team and dominated in a brief appearance.
After visiting the Linn-Benton campus this year, Daniels was sold on the idea of playing for the Albany school.
Submitted photo – The Del Norte all-conference selections in baseball
Submitted photo – Preston Daniels at his recent letter signing ceremony.
“I really liked the field and just everything about it,” he said. “Everybody was so nice, and they’re a really good ball club. It’s a really great program.”
And a successful one too.
This spring, the Roadrunners finished 39-11-1 overall and won a second straight Northwest Athletic Conference championship and a third in four years.
Daniels doesn’t know yet what role he’ll play for his new team, but he is excited about the opportunity and like any good player he knows he will have to continue to battle to earn his spot.
“I’m going to do whatever the coach wants me to do,” he said. “Obviously, I would like to be a starter, but whatever the coaches want I’m going to work as hard as I can.”
Daniels certainly enjoyed his time playing for Del Norte, ever since breaking into the team as a freshman.
As a sophomore, he helped lead the Warriors to the North Coast Section playoffs and had a huge impact, throwing a no-hitter against Fort Bragg in his first-ever playoff start, which was the first-ever postseason no-hitter in program history.
Submitted photo – Preston Daniels and teammate Aidan Rice, who will play at Shasta College next year.
Daniels and Rice during their Little League days.
“That was one my best moments,” he said. “It felt so good throwing a no-hitter in the playoffs. It was definitely one of the biggest moments in my high school career.”
So too was this season, which saw the Warriors take home the Big 5 championship for the first time 11 years.
“My sophomore season was one of the funnest, as well as this year,” Daniels said.
In addition to his obvious talents on the mound, and the hard work he has put into developing those talents, Daniels is smart enough to realize he couldn’t have done it all without help, including family and community support.
“My biggest supporters have always been my two grandparents and my mom and dad,” he said. “And I’d also like to say thank you to the whole Del Norte community … that’s how I got here today.”
As for what he will miss the most from his time playing for the Warriors, Daniels says it will be his teammates, and one player in particular.
“What I’ll miss the most is playing with my guys,” he said. “I’ve played baseball with these guys since I was like 10. I’m going to miss those guys, I really enjoyed my time with them.”
Fellow senior Aidan Rice, who will play at Shasta College next year, has been playing alongside Daniels for about as along as either can remember.
“My first-ever game was with him, on the Hot Rods,” Daniels said with a chuckle. “It was super cool. He’s been one of my good buddies along the way.”
Both players signed their letters of intent together at Del Norte 10 days ago.
Before he heads to Albany, Daniels is playing this summer with the Medford Rogues and he made quite a splash in his debut with the team last week.
Daniels threw one inning in Tuesday’s 14-4 win over the South Bay Storm and was named the team’s player of the game after striking out all three batters he faced on just 13 pitches.
He will continue to play with the Rogues until mid July, when he will make his first-ever trip outside the country on his senior trip to Indonesia.
He will, however, miss the team’s trip to Arcata to play the Humboldt Crabs on the final weekend of the regular season, but will face the local collegiate summer team when they make the trip to Medford in early July and could face off against some of his former H-DNL rivals.
Playing for the Rogue this summer has been memorable so far.
“The experience is definitely super fun,” he said. “I really like all the guys, everybody’s super cool. Everybody’s super nice.”
