For the Love of the Game - By John Corbin

Chris Daniels is an incredible athlete with an exciting baseball career so far and a bright future ahead of him. Chris was born on February 4, 2006, to Monica and Derald Daniels. He grew up with a love of sports, spending most of his time playing baseball, basketball, football, and some soccer. When he wasn’t playing sports, he played some video games, airsoft and rode his scooter. Chris began playing baseball at around five years old, and he has played on many different teams throughout the years. He played for Greater Richland Little League, where he was an all-star for three years, and his team won the state title as ten-year-olds. He has also played for the Knights, Reach, Reign, RCA, Baum, enFuego, and other select teams all across the country. Different teams have made Chris a better player in many ways because all of his teams had different coaches, so he had to adapt to different people, their coaching styles, and their opinions on parts of the game. This helped him gain knowledge about the game of baseball and perfect his craft. Daniels’ most memorable baseball moment was being selected for the area code games, and he is most proud of earning Area Code 23 All-State Second Team. 

Photo: Metcalf Media (@metcalfmedia_ )

Chris attended Chief Jo Middle School before moving on to Richland High School as a three-sport athlete in football, basketball, and baseball. He excelled at all three sports, but in the end, baseball became his true passion. Chris is a 6’ 2, 200 lb starting 3rd baseman and pitcher for the varsity Bombers and one of the top hitters on the team. His size and strength make him a great athlete, and he uses his body to his advantage. He made the varsity team as a sophomore and finished the season with a .430 batting average, .729 slugging, 7 doubles, 4 home runs, and 21 RBI’s. As a junior, Chris had a .394 batting average, .634 slugging, 11 stolen bases, 2 home runs, and 30 RBI’s. Daniels is by far one of the best 3rd basemen around. He was selected for the All-State team and MCC Second Team All-Conference as a sophomore, and he earned MCC Honorable Mention as a junior. Head Coach Grant Richardson views Daniels’ confidence and belief in his own abilities as huge strengths. Richardson shared that “His biggest contribution to the team up to this point is being an offensive leader and someone that other teams fear and don’t want to throw to. He took the opportunity as a maybe-starter to an immediate team leader as a sophomore. The sky's the limit for that kid.”

Chris is also extremely dedicated to putting in work in the gym. He has been working out at Elite Athletics Training (EAT) for the past few years. EAT trainer Steven Whitehead had this to say about being able to watch him grow as an athlete and young man: “Seeing him grow over the course of his career has been a pleasure. Seeing him start off hot, hit, a wall, and then find a way to bounce back by changing and training his body in order to accomplish everything he’d set out to do has made his work worth it”. Chris knows that a big part of being an athlete is ensuring your body is always in shape during your sport, especially for baseball. He has learned that there are a lot of things that you have to take care of on your body, especially your arm, and having a strong body helps him now and in the future and can help prevent injury. 

Richland High School has changed Chris’s life in many different ways. According to Chris, the brotherhood is crazy athlete to athlete. In his experience, the Bomber community and the school have your back at Richland, and other schools’ fans don’t like Richland because we win a lot. “Baseball has a huge part in Richland with its very rich winning pastime, and the immense support that the Bomber baseball team receives has just put in my mind how a community should run and how you should always look out for one another. Richland has also brought me many friends and memories that I will have for a lifetime.” 

For Daniels, Bomber baseball is like no other. The Bomber program has a couple of state championships under its belt and year after year, they have a really solid team. Chris says, “Richland does not back down to any team, and we are gonna play until the game ends. Bomber baseball plays the game the right way, with respect, but we’re not gonna back down to any school no matter what.” Chris describes that the end goal is always to earn the school another state championship. Chris’s personal goals for his senior season include winning the league and state championships and winning league MVP. He plans to switch his jersey from number 10 to 24 for senior year. Daniels has always worn 24 because his birthday is 2/4/06, he was born at 2:46 PM, and he has 24 letters in his name.  

Photo: Metcalf Media (@metcalfmedia_ )

Daniels is committed to play Division One baseball at New Mexico State University next fall. His future plans are to play pro ball and get his family set up for life. One role model that Chris looks up to is Dane Lais, one of his old teammates who was drafted and set a perfect example for him. He showed Chris how a professional should work and all the work that needs to be done to get there. Daniels describes his passion for the game as what drives him to play, “Baseball is the best game on earth, and by just having fun, you can make some money.”