By Prep baseball in Southern California is as competitive as it gets in the country. Several universities in the region have emerged as West Coast baseball powerhouses. Long Beach State is among the elite in the West, along with Fullerton, USC and UCLA. However, Dirtbag baseball has enticed a young Orange County boy since childhood.
Growing up in Santa Ana, Danny Espinosa has always been an LBSU fan. As a young child, he had his heart set on eventually playing ball for LBSU.
Attending Dirtbag baseball games with his father Dan became routine for Espinosa as a child. There, Espinosa’s father would describe LBSU’s style of play as “the right way to play.” This stuck in Espinosa’s mind as he grew up, and it influenced his decision to come to The Beach.
Espinosa played high school ball at athletic powerhouse Mater Dei High School. Espinosa was a member of the 2005 CIF champion Monarch baseball team that went 25-8. Espinosa batted .288 with 23 RBIs and stole 20 bases during his senior season. In his last two seasons, he was all-CIF and all-League.
LBSU head coach Mike Weathers said Espinosa was a prime recruit while attending Mater Dei. Weathers recruited him to play for the Dirtbags because of his tremendous arm strength and beneficial knowledge of the game.
“He has emerged as a leader through playing well on the field,” Weathers said. “He has done a great job leading the team by bringing the team from behind when needed.”
Last year, in his first season as a Dirtbag, Espinosa was the Big West Freshman of the Year and was also named a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball. In addition, he was named Honorable Mention all-Big West. He started 55 games at shortstop and batted .281 with a team best 16 doubles.
“My whole life I’ve been doubted,” Espinosa said. “Many people have told me that I can’t do it. Being able to prove people wrong and that I’m able to adjust has been my biggest challenge.”
So far this season, Espinosa has been one of the team’s biggest producers, batting .319 with a team-leading 11 RBIs. He has also proven himself to be valuable in the clutch.
He had two walk-off singles won the first two games in the series against Texas. Two weeks later, he won the game again for the Dirtbags against California, when he drove in all four of the Dirtbags’ runs.
“I love being in pressure situations. I like to feed off of the energy of the crowd and of my teammates,” Espinosa said. “My teammates fuel my game by having confidence in me when I’m at bat. I don’t want to let my teammates down.”
The humble standout shortstop said he has learned from Weathers to never get too comfortable and to never be satisfied, because there is always room for improvement. Espinosa said Weathers pushes him to get the best out of himself every day.
His humble perspective on his game has contributed to his success both on and off the field and earned him the respect of his teammates.
“Danny plays like he’s been in college baseball for four years and is a great leader,” said outfielder Robert Perry. “He works very hard during practice and is a leader on the field.”
First baseman Brandon Godfrey said Espinosa has become a valuable asset to the team. His hard-working mentality has made him an all-around better player.
“Defensively, he hasn’t made an error, which has kept us in the game,” said Godfrey. “Along with some clutch-hitting, that has won games for us.”
