The next step to playing among the elites at the college level, and perhaps beyond, has finally arrived for Greenville baseball standout Trey McDaniel.
The Bears' slugger and ace, who broke school records and etched his name in the state record books during his four seasons at Greenville, signed a Letter of Intent to continue his career at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in November and is ready to make his mark on a bigger stage.
"I've been playing baseball since I can remember and this is the type of stuff you dream of. I'm excited to keep going," said McDaniel, who became the first Greenville student-athlete to sign with a NCAA Division I school.
Keen on the idea of staying close to home and joining a successful program right in his own backyard, McDaniel first gave his verbal commitment to Southeast Missouri State University in January 2016. But just a few days after head coach Steve Bieser left the school to take over the managing duties at the University of Missouri in July, McDaniel's commitment dissolved automatically.
"I don't blame him for going from a great program at SEMO to a bigger SEC college like Mizzou but it caught me by surprise," McDaniel said. "They had a great program going, and I'm sure they still do, and I was ready to be a part of that."
Though it wasn't his original decision, McDaniel reopened his commitment and almost immediately caught the attention of other top-tier D-I and JUCO schools. At one point, McDaniel said as many as eight college coaches were in pursuit of his talents.
"It was kind of hectic there for a little bit. With me playing on two different summer teams, it really go me exposed and I was talking to a bunch of them."
Most of the schools sent scouts to watch McDaniel during the summer leading up to his senior year and into the fall season, before a weekend trip to Carbondale made his decision to sign with the Salukis an easy one.
"It was kind of a relief after talking to different coaches and dealing with the stress of deciding where I was going to go," McDaniel said. "It was beautiful, I loved the campus and everything was as expected. The offer was great and the coaches and the prestige of their pitching program did it for me."
McDaniel did his research before signing his name on the dotted line. In that time he found that the Salukis used 15 pitchers last season and not a single one suffered any sort of injury.
"That's almost unheard of. It showed me they know how to take care of guys' arms and really develop them," McDaniel said.
McDaniel joins a Southern Illinois team that finished 27-30 overall and 10-10 in conference play.
Once he arrives on SIU's campus, McDaniel said he'll offer the Salukis a well-rounded game and hopefully a reliable spot in the starting rotation.
"They told me that when I get there I have a chance to be in the starting five. I have just as good of a chance as a senior," McDaniel said. "They didn't guarantee me a spot and I know I'll have to work for it."
McDaniel knows a thing or two about hard work and dedication. As a freshman at Greenville, the right-hander was just starting to figure out his abilities. He touched 82 mph that year, and by the end of his sophomore season he was hitting 89.
"My freshman year I started to figure out that I could strike some people out. I started working out my slider, my other pitches and how to mix them," McDaniel said.
This past summer his fastball reached 92 on the gun. He attributes his steady rise in velocity to a few things -- mainly a solid session of long toss, a good workout in the gym and a few good coaches, namely Jeff Null.
Null coached McDaniel and the Bears to two district titles. In that time, Null taught McDaniel some valuable lessons.
"I kind of learned from him because he's a great pitch-caller and game manager. He really knew how to mix it up," McDaniel said.
McDaniel's rise through the years wasn't as seamless at first said Null, who called it a developmental year.
"He threw pretty hard but he was pretty wild," Null said. "I never thought in a million years he'd develop like he did."
One year later, McDaniel shattered his coach's expectations.
"His sophomore year is when he really shined," Null said. "He traveled all over the state playing summer ball, was in the cage and in the gym 24-7, and now his stats speak for themselves."
On the mound, McDaniel has put up staggering numbers. His career strikeout mark in both the spring and fall season eclipsed 651 this year, while his 386 strikeouts in four spring seasons alone rank sixth all-time in the MSHSAA record book, along with his 1.25 career ERA, which is eighth among the state's best.
McDaniel, who was recently named a Semoball Awards finalist, recorded three consecutive seasons with 300-plus strikeouts, struck out a state record 20 batters in a game earlier this year and holds a 44-7 career record on the hill.
The four-time all-conference and all-district selection as well as two-time all-state selection was equally as good at the plate when he had a chance. McDaniel was walked 90 times in his career and still managed a .408 batting average with 10 home runs and 135 RBIs.
"It's kind of surprising but then again I just did the best I could and didn't really look at stats much other than winning," McDaniel said. "I was really wanting to get district championships and all that stuff more than individual awards."
There is no off-season for McDaniel, who helped the Wayne County Lumberjacks win two consecutive Senior Babe Ruth state championships as well as an appearance in the 2016 World Series last summer.
Currently McDaniel is playing for the Charleston Fighting Squirrels before he heads to SIU this fall.
Prior to that next step, McDaniel will be keeping a close eye on the Major League Baseball draft, which begins Monday.
Though he hasn't talked to any MLB scouts directly, McDaniel said a few of his coaches have. And while he's not quite ready to make a decision should he get drafted, McDaniel has a clear and focused outlook on where the game he loves could take him next.
"If I get a good enough offer I can't just let that go by," McDaniel said. "But at the same time I could pass on it because SIU is such a great school and I'd like to see what I can do there and where this game can take me."