The Final Season: Zach Daudet's Journey Through Baseball

 After 15 years of playing baseball, Zach Daudet has arrived at his last NCAA-eligible season this year. From youth baseball coached by his father, to travel ball with all his best friends, high school playing on varsity, division 2 college, and finally arriving at Cal Poly, Daudet has had quite the baseball journey. Daudet will leave behind the sport that has given him his best friends and childhood memories. The bittersweet feeling is a testament to the accomplishments and pure joy that baseball has offered him. Daudet is nothing but grateful for the opportunities baseball has given him and how much his life has been influenced by the sport.

When you think about baseball, what is your earliest or most prominent childhood memory?

My earliest memory is playing t-ball at the park by our house. That is where I first learned how to play with my dad's coaching and I don't remember a ton of it.

You mentioned when you were growing up that playing with your friends and your friends being on your team was kind of so into it at the time. Did you make lasting friendships from baseball?

Ya, all my best friends played so that was my whole friend group. That was 8-21 now, I mean all my best friends have all been baseball players. That's probably the part I like most about baseball all the people you meet.

You had the interesting experience of graduating high school and being recruited during COVID what was that like?

It was definitely interesting, there was a big unknown with college sports in general. It was definitely a stressful time to be a high school recruit trying to go play in college because there just weren't as many opportunities as there normally are. So you were competing with a lot of different factors that you don't normally need to compete with. But it was definitely a, I enjoyed COVID from a performance standpoint. That was a big time for me physically, I got to develop, I really got dedicated to the gym, to the size I need to be in order for me to be successful at this level. 

You went from high school to a D2 to a D1… What was it like going into the portal, and what emotionally was that like? Did you have confidence? Was it stressful? Why did you do it? 

Ya, the portal in hindsight was definitely in the moment was a big decision. I had confidence in myself but you never know. It's an unknown, so you don't really know how it's going to turn out you hope for the best and I had two really good years at Regis, and I had some interest that I knew about before going into the portal but nothing is set and stone so it's a big risk. It was hard to leave Regis because those coaches and teammates were a big part of my life and I'm super grateful for everything I went through and all the people that helped me along the way there. 

You’re in your senior year, your last confirmed year possibly of playing baseball, what does that feel like?

Ya, it's a little bittersweet. It's the last year doing something I've done since I was 6 years old. So it's a little bit like you see the end of the tunnel, which is a little nerve-racking and scary, it is just what I've done my whole life. So I'm really just trying to enjoy all the moments on the field, but especially off the field, hang out with my roommates, and friends, and you know really just try to make the most of your senior year. But then on the baseball field, I'm really just trying to take any pressure I put on myself, off myself. I still wanna exceed and do well. Ive always had that drive but at the end of the day I just wanna enjoy myself and enjoy my teammates, win baseball games and I wanna be able to look back on this year and my career and you know finish on a high note and be happy and satisfied with everything ive been able to accomplish.