Daniels, Greger follow familiar path from Avon Old Farms

A surge of adrenaline overtook Ryan Daniels and Gavin Greger each time George Springer stepped to the plate in the American League Championship Series for the Houston Astros.

It didn’t matter that the announcers didn’t mention the outfielder’s path from tearing it up at Avon Old Farms to putting on a show at UConn en route to being selected in the first round of the 2011 Major League Baseball draft. Daniels and Greger certainly know all about Springer’s journey to becoming one of the most feared postseason hitters in the game and that of Jack Sundberg, another outfielder who went from Avon Old Farms to UConn without missing a beat.

“You consider just Springer and Sundberg alone, that occupies about seven years of centerfielders for him and six years for us,” Avon Old Farms baseball coach Robert Dowling said.

There won’t be an Avon Old Farms alum patrolling the outfield the next time the UConn baseball team plays a game, but there certainly could be one during the 2022 season. Greger, a former Bristol Central pitcher/outfielder, is one of three Connecticut products in the Class of 2022 already committed to the Huskies.

“You look at their history going back to Avon Old Farms, and UConn and it makes you want to be that next guy that went to Avon Old Farms, went to UConn and now is getting drafted to play professional baseball,” Greger said. “It is something that is special and one day I can say I am the category with two of those guys in the way I went to Avon Old Farms just like them and hopefully get drafted just like them.”

Greger was not only the first of the Nutmeg State products to say yes to veteran UConn coach Jim Penders’ recruiting pitch, but he also did everything in his power to make sure he would not be heading to Storrs alone.

Daniels, an infielder from Meriden who Greger has known since he was 10, had originally committed to Stetson but he switched a couple of months back to become a UConn pledge. Xavier two-sport star Drew Kron, who played on the same summer team as Greger, also is a future Husky.

“Since I was the first, I was always trying to bribe the other guys, ‘hey I know UConn is looking at you, we should do this together,’” Greger said. “They talked it out and we all kind of decided that UConn is the place.”

It’s not unusual for UConn to have at least three state natives in its recruiting classes. There was a minimum of three freshmen from Connecticut on the Huskies’ roster eight times in a nine years including five each on the 2018, 2019, and 2020 rosters. There are five more state products committed in the Class of 2021. But to have three commits who know each other, have played together, and are already close friends is a different deal.

“I knew a lot about the school, I knew a lot of people who went through the school, a lot of my coaches

went to the school and they have been on a super rise in baseball in their program for at least the last 15 years,” Daniels said. “I knew that I really wanted to go to UConn always and I actually committed in eighth grade to Stetson.”

Daniels comes to Avon Old Farms from St. Paul, just about five miles from Bristol Central. Daniels and Greger have two seasons to play for the prep school powerhouse after COVID-19 wiped out their sophomore high school seasons.

Dowling is more than happy to see his players head to UConn.

“I’ve known Jim for a long time. Jim trusts that the kids who go to UConn from Avon are going to be well prepared, going to know the game well, the kids make their own decisions,” Dowling said. “Certainly UConn did not apply any pressure to them to come to Avon, but I’ve known Jim really well for 20 years. We have done baseball things together, we socialize together, I consider him to be a friend of mine so I think that partnership has worked really well.”

Daniels seemed destined to make an impact on the Connecticut baseball scene.

His father Pete, who has coached him for years, began his collegiate career at the University of Hartford where his roommate was another Astros slugger — Hall of Famer Jeff Bagwell. Pete Daniels would win a national championship after transferring to Eastern Connecticut State and he passes on his knowledge to his highly touted son.

“He is huge in my life. I go to him for everything especially baseball,” Ryan Daniels said. “In baseball, he knows the answer on my swing if I am struggling. He is super hard on me that I might not appreciate at the moment but it always helps me because he is always pushing me and he knows what I want to do.”

What Daniels wants to do is become the next Connecticut product to star at UConn. He will have the opportunity to play at a brand new, state of the art Elliott Ballpark.

“That field is unbelievable,” Daniels said. “You get treated like an MLB player there, it is insane, the turf field, the locker room, the whole stadium feel to it, it is phenomenal.”

Greger was also blown away the first time he saw the field completed.

“They started working on that field when I committed and now that it is done, it is unbelievable,” Greger said. “Once that place starts packing in people and getting to play in front of the best fans, it is going to be exciting especially getting to wear UConn across my chest.

“UConn really grabbed me, stuck out the most, and not only because I am a Connecticut guy and I am staying home but because of the way their facility is. It came down to not just baseball but to academics too and UConn is also amazing. Everything that UConn is putting in baseball-wise and facility wise, UConn is just unbelievable, amazing.”

His enthusiasm rubbed off on his fellow Connecticut products who are currently high school juniors. Playing this summer with the Connecticut Rivals, he was in the ear of Kron about joining him at UConn.

“Leading up to his commitment, it was kind of me bribing him,” Greger said. “Once he committed, it was like, ‘let’s look at the Connecticut boys, the trio growing up as friends all going to UConn.’ We all talked about what it is going to be like and how good of a team UConn will be, we are going to practice hard, work hard and hopefully go to the [College] World Series.”

Kron has played with Greger in each of the last four summers so the duo already has a strong bond.

“Right when he committed he said he wanted me to join him there,” Kron said. “I started narrowing it down to some schools, he was very supportive of me but was definitely urging me to come. He was telling me all the great things about the coaches, the facility. He did his job persuading me to choose UConn.”

Kron is an intriguing recruit considering that he is a talented quarterback as well.

“I think I knew baseball would be the path I went down,” Kron said. “I never ruled out football and still haven’t ruled out football. UConn is a school that Coach Penders has said that if the football side recruits me, he has no problem with me actually playing both sports at UConn.”

So is UConn showing interest in Kron in football as well?

“My coach and offensive coordinator [Greg Jaskot] has talked to a couple of coaches there,” Kron said. “They said they know me, they have seen film of me but they want to see me play in person. If we end up having a season this year, maybe they will show some more interest. I haven’t personally talked to them but they know who I am.”

Kron, an outfielder, has some high-profile professional athletes to look up to in not only Springer but Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder A.J. Pollock is from Hebron as is Kron. Then there is former Xavier quarterback Tim Boyle, currently the No. 2 quarterback with the NFL’s Green Bay Packers.

“I have a great relationship with Tim,” Kron said. “We have been getting closer and closer over my years of high school. I’ve done a lot of workouts with him, I have gone out to dinner with him so having him almost what you could call a friend is great because he is another guy that you could look up to. He is a guy that went through a similar process as me, different sport but he also went to UConn to start his college career. It is sweet hearing the stories he has to tell about backing up [Aaron] Rodgers, getting to meet the new guys and traveling all over. It is great to hear that and be able to communicate with somebody in that league.”