May 3, 2016
By Tristan Vitale `19
Cole Daily is a freshman infielder on the University of Notre Dame baseball team who comes to the Irish from Springfield, Illinois. As a senior at Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin High School, Daily batted .451 with two home runs and 45 stolen bases, and was named the second-best shortstop in the state of Illinois by Perfect Game. This season, his career at ND is off to a strong start as he sports a .303 average with five doubles, six RBI, six walks and eight runs scored in 20 games played.
Catching up with Daily in the dugout, we asked him a few questions to get to know him better. The freshman infielder talks baseball, spirit animals and more:
Q: What is your favorite memory from the season so far?
A: My favorite memories have been all of the exciting wins we’ve had. We’ve had a lot of walk-offs where we came back, so it’s the excitement in the way that we’ve won games this season so far.
Q: What is your walk up song?
A: My walk up song is “Double Bubble Trouble” by M.I.A.
Q: If you could trade places with any person for a day, who would it be?
A: I would probably say Derek Jeter, or Matt Vierling with the way he’s been playing.
Q: What is your spirit animal?
A: My spirit animal is probably a leopard. Yeah, I just like leopards.
Q: What is Coach Mik Aoki’s spirit animal?
A: I would say a cheetah?
Q: Do you have any other special talents or hobbies?
A: I like playing golf, fishing and playing basketball.
Q: What is the biggest fish you have ever caught?
A: One time when I was in Mexico I caught a 45-pound grouper. We kept it and ate it for dinner.
Q: Why do you wear the number 6?
A: My dad wore number 6 when he played in high school and college.
Q: What is your favorite part about baseball?
A: Just the camaraderie of the team, and just being with the guys. It’s a team game, but you also have to perform by yourself too.
Q: What players did you idolize growing up?
A: I really liked Jose Reyes … and also Albert Pujols just because I was a big Cardinals fan.
Q: Would you rather make a highlight play in the field or hit a home run?
A: I would say hit a home run, I don’t get too many of those.
Q: What is your favorite pitch to hit?
A: Probably just a fastball down the middle.
Q: Did you naturally bat left-handed and throw right-handed?
A: Yeah I think it was natural, when I first picked up the bat it was in the left hand. I also golf left-handed, but that’s it.
Q: What has the transition been like from high school baseball to college baseball?
A: It hasn’t been too bad, I would just say there’s a lot more time that goes into the game in college.
Q: What has it been like learning from veterans like Lane Richards in the infield?
A: All of the guys in the infield have been awesome. Coming in, I knew I was going to have a lot of guys to learn from, and every day taking ground balls behind those guys has been great because I can pick up little things here and there and get better.
Q: If you could play a sport other than baseball, what would it be?
A: Basketball. I played for a little bit in high school.
Q: Why did you come to Notre Dame?
A: The school speaks for itself, and the baseball was just a plus. I really liked the coaches and the facilities, and then the school, you can’t beat the school.
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The Irish have the week off for final exams before welcoming in Atlantic Coast Conference foe Pittsburgh for a critical three-game conference series this weekend at Frank Eck Stadium (7:05 p.m. ET Friday, 4:05 p.m. ET Saturday & 1:05 p.m. ET Sunday).
For more information on the Notre Dame baseball team, follow the Irish on Facebook (/NDBaseball), Twitter (@NDBaseball) and Instagram (notredamebaseball).
–ND–