Ever since they were kids, brothers Jake and Joe Daneff have dreamed about playing on the same baseball team, and that fantasy became a reality in the Ban Johnson League this summer.
The Daneff brothers – and Park Hill alumni – have been on the Creche Innovations Stars that wrapped up the regular season with a 17-8 record. The older brother, Joe, has been on the team since the summer of 2020.
“This is my third year; I started when it was the COVID year and everyone was home,” Joe Daneff said. “I was on the Regal (Plastic) team first then I transferred over the second year to the Stars.”
The Ban Johnson League is for athletes who are out of high school and there are 12 total teams in two divisions: National and American. The Stars are in the National League and the 2019 Park Hill graduate was joined by 2021 Park Hill graduate.
“I feel like it is more fun with him (Jake); we talk a lot to each other on the infield. We have competitions between each other while playing towards our team,” Joe Daneff said.
The Daneffs are right next to each other in the infield for the Stars as Joe plays third base and Jake plays shortstop. While this is the first time they have stepped on the field as teammates, it won’t be the last as they will both be playing for Emporia State University this coming year.
“We’ve talked about it, but it was when we were really young, so we didn’t know what the process was to get into a college was,” Jake Daneff said.” It was definitely a dream of ours to play together in college, so it feels good to play together on the Stars, it’s kind of a warm-up for us for next year.”
Joe Daneff started his collegiate career at Dodge City Community College and committed to become a Hornet after his sophomore campaign concluded when his batting average was .356 with 52 hits and eight home runs. Joe told the Platte County Citizen that he didn’t influence Jake to join the Stars, but was excited when he decided to join.
“I just let him (Jake) do his thing. I was going to support him no matter what but when he said he was going to join, it was even better. I knew that we had the left side of the infield locked down,” Joe Daneff said.
Jake (#1) and Joe Daneff (#20), above right, share a high five at during the Creche Innovations Stars 14-6 win on the final day of regular season play on July 13 at Creekside Baseball Complex.
For the Stars, the third baseman has had 30 hits, 27 RBIs and five home runs, including one grand slam, while posting a .390 batting average and .688 sluggish average this summer after teaming up with his younger brother. The 2021 Park Hill alum has had a solid summer as well, posting 25 hits – including two home runs – and 17 RBIs as Jake was recently selected as player of the week out of all of the teams in the league.
“I think it’s pretty cool, I feel like I’ve had a pretty good summer at the plate. Overall, I feel like I have been doing my job and it is pretty cool to get the recognition,” Jake Daneff said.
There is a slight age gap between the brothers, so the two had never stepped foot on the same baseball team before this summer. They are both excited to get back to work together at Emporia State University and will be living together when they head to college.
“It was actually the first time we played together on the same team. He is a few years older, so we’ve never been on the same team,” Jake Daneff said.
The Daneffs helped lead the Stars to the postseason, which started on July 19, in a best of three series against the BJ Raiders. If the Stars advance, they will play a best of five series in the Championship.