Photography by Steve Buchanan
Colonel Richardson High senior Daniel Hesson plays baseball nonstop. After the high school season ends, Hesson competes for the Salisbury-based East Coast Titans—an elite club team—in the summer and fall. Weightlifting with Titans’ teammates and baseball practices indoors are consistent in the offseason.
Hesson even throws off a mound year-round in his backyard to his father Brandon, a former baseball player. And the time he spent at college camps over the past two summers has been equally valuable to his development.
It was Hesson’s dream to play college baseball ever since middle school. So, the easiest way to get noticed and perhaps get offers is to impress college coaches at camps.
Hesson, a dominating left-handed pitcher, participated at camps at George Mason, Coppin State, Salisbury, and McDaniel in 2022. This past summer, he attended more camps at Towson University, Mount St. Mary’s, Salisbury again, and Marymount.
The hard work, time, and travel paid off for the 5-foot-10, 175-pound Hesson. Marymount University in Northern Virginia offered him a spot on its team and Hesson expects more offers to come. He’d like to play Division I baseball, but Division II or Division III would suit him just fine.
“It’s all about being seen by the colleges,” says Hesson, who carries a 4.0 grade-point average and will have taken eight advanced placement classes by the time he graduates. “Colleges can’t offer guys they haven’t seen a lot of. They want to see benchmarks out of you like the velocity of your pitches.”
The camps make Hesson, a Cambridge resident, a better player by sharpening his skills. He refined some of his pitching mechanics. “I picked up a lot of experience and tips from college coaches that I wouldn’t be able to get from other coaches,” says Hesson, who expects to commit to a college this winter. “I come away as a better pitcher.”
Hesson has been clocked as high as 84 miles per hour. Colonel Richardson Baseball Coach Ryan Blanchfield feels Hesson could add a few more miles per hour to his impressive four-pitch repertoire. That would even make him more attractive to colleges.
“If he works hard this winter, he could get bigger, stronger, and throw harder,” Blanchfield explains.
Hesson worked as Colonel Richardson’s ace pitcher the past two seasons, helping the Colonels to the Class 1A state championship games both years.
He spent his freshman year on the junior varsity squad, and part of his sophomore season on the same team before being called up to the varsity team early in the season. He boasts an 8-1 record in his first two years on varsity.
Blanchfield didn’t think Hesson would be as good so quickly since he became the team’s ace in 2002. He pitched to a 1.46 ERA and gave up only 18 hits in 33 innings while striking out 35 batters. Pitching four scoreless innings in a state final loss to Clear Spring of Washington County highlighted his season.
“He is fearless,” Blanchfield says. “He just wants to be the guy and he thinks he will outsmart you and his stuff will beat you. You prepare for everything, but it is not easy pitching in the state championship. He went in and shut down a very good Clear Spring team.”
Hesson was even better as a junior. He fanned 91 batters in 60 innings, yielding 40 hits and posting a sparkling 1.26 ERA. Hesson shined again in the state championship game in May, giving up only two earned runs across six-plus innings and striking out four in a close 3-2 loss.
“He was a bloop single away from pitching a shutout,” Blanchfield says of this year’s state final. “He is the guy every coach wants. I haven’t many high school pitchers with four pitches. We had a pitcher draft in 2018 and threw three pitches.”
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