Ryan Daues, a senior and third baseman on the Tufts baseball team, was sitting in his room when one of his teammates and housemates called him into their living room with great news. After over a year without competition, NESCAC cleared the way for a spring sports season on March 9.
Daues is from Palos Verdes, California and attended Palos Verdes Peninsula High School. He has played baseball for much of his life, starting around the age of five and all throughout middle and high school. At Palos Verdes Peninsula High School, he was a First Team All-Bay League selection and was named offensive MVP of the team. As he started thinking about the college process, Daues cited baseball as a large part of why he chose to come to Tufts.
“I was looking at the options I had for college and I was like ‘OK this might be a serious look for me’ because a lot of the other schools that were looking at me didn't have the kind of academic rigor that Tufts did,” Daues said. “Part of it as well was the opportunity to get out of California and go do something else which a lot of my friends weren't doing. It just checked a lot of boxes.”
Daues has been a reliable bat in the Jumbo lineup since he arrived in Medford four years ago. During his first year, Daues played in 21 games at second base and as a designated hitter. He hit two home runs, collected 15 RBIs and finished with a .262 batting average and .425 on base percentage. Twelve games into his sophomore year, he broke his hand and took on a new role on the bench for the remainder of the season. In 45 at-bats that season, Daues had a .333 batting average, .475 on base percentage and .489 slugging percentage. Now going into his senior year, Daues said he is excited for his role to change once again so he can re-assume a position on the field and lead some of the first-years.
“My role [on the team] has changed a lot. From my [first] year I was kind of a role player, doing anything I could to make an impact, to help the team win,” Daues said. “My sophomore year [I had] to step into more of a leadership role and assume a starting position, but it was only for a brief time. I ended up breaking my hand and I missed the whole year … That was a big shift for me because I learned how to not only be a player and how to support my teammates on the field but also how to support them off the field. Cheering for them, doing anything I can to make sure they can play at their best. I think that's helped me into this year, developing relationships with some of the younger guys, being a senior. Making them feel comfortable, especially right now.”
Beyond simply practicing and playing, Daues said he is grateful for the opportunity to play for the Tufts baseball team. He said his coaches and fellow teammates created a nurturing culture and have taught him valuable lessons.
“[Tufts baseball program] has done more for me than just make me a better baseball player,” Daues said. “One of the big things our coach prides himself on is making us into better men. Honestly, I learned a lot of stuff: accountability, time management, picking up each other, working as a team, having a bigger goal other than yourself … I’ve had the ability to make some of the best friends I've ever had and learn skills that I'll keep with me for the rest of my life.”
Daues noted that the team has been challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic over the past year. Given the inability to socialize, Daues said the team chemistry is not as strong as it previously was.
“[Baseball] is one of the closest teams on campus,” Daues said. “Especially heading into the season, we spend a lot of time down there at the field in the locker room doing a bunch of team building chemistry stuff that our coach has us do, but this year it’s tough. We haven't had the opportunity to see as many of the guys as we would like to … The good thing is since the previous years we've had such good team chemistry, the sophomores, juniors and seniors are all really close so I think that team chemistry is still really strong. It's just about finding ways to incorporate the [first-years] into that.”
In addition to creating a social divide on the team, Daues said that the COVID-19 pandemic also divided the players in terms of baseball work ethic.
“[Last season’s cancellation] was a bit of a separator,” Daues said. “The guys that wanted to play and get better found a way to play, practice and get better. The guys that were OK being OK, didn’t. For me, that was an advantage."
Heading into his senior season, Daues said he is skeptical of a potential cancellation given the fragility of events in the pandemic. However, when asked about his expectations for the season, he still remained confident in his team’s ability.
“Win. Always predict we’re going to win,” Daues said. “The way they’re doing it is to have games here one day and then the following day is away. It’s a really unique way of doing it. It’s going to be tough — a lot of baseball packed into a short period of time. I think that’s something we’re actually really good at, outworking other teams. We are a lot tougher than other teams in the NESCAC, we handle adversity a lot better. We have expectations to win every game.”
