Daniel Burggraaf
By Terry Mosher
Editor, Sports Paper
Daniel Burggraaf is a three-sport athlete who loves to compete, but it’s on the baseball diamond where he’s the most comfortable. The nearly six-foot-three and 180-pound Burggraaf this summer found that even more so as the helped Narrows Baseball compile a 40-17 record playing against some of the best select baseball teams in the Pacific Northwest.
Burggraaf – son of Ralph and Cheryl Burggraaf ‑ is a right-handed pitcher who with Narrows Baseball won the most games for the team, compiling a 7-1 record with a 3.15 ERA.
In 71 innings over 18 games, Burggraaf struck out 42 and walked 39. Those numbers are not a good indication of just how much the junior-to-be at North Mason improved over the summer.
“Danny did a great job, “ says Jon Fuller, head coach of Narrows Baseball and the coach of the U-18 SPL team Burggraaf pitched for. “He was one of the youngest pitchers on the staff and he really held his own pitching against the toughest league (Seattle Premier League) in the state and against top teams in tough tournaments.
“He doesn’t throw hard – in the low 80s – but he’s just got real good command of his fastball. He knows how to pitch, changes speeds real well, and is one of those kids who wants to get better.”
Burggraaf and Narrows Baseball just completed its summer season. He’s currently working around LakeLand Village watering lawns while waiting for the football season to begin with fall practices (Aug. 21). Burggraaf will be a wide receiver and a free safety for the North Mason Bulldogs this fall football season.
During the winter, Burggraaf plays basketball for the Bulldogs.
But this three-sport athlete’s best is achieved in the classroom. He’s a 4.0 grade-point average student and beginning with the new school year will take his first advanced placement class (literature).
“He’s a good kid,” says his North Mason baseball coach Bill Geyer. “He’s a 4.0 student and it’s hard to be the kid who carries that load on his shoulders. He’s never not had a 4.0.”
If he struggles with being an excellent student, it does not show. He appears to carry that well. In the meantime, he is trying hard to become better as a pitcher.
When he can, he will continue to do all the workouts necessary to make himself an even better pitcher. And being a young guy, he still has some development to go to be where he wants to be – a dominant pitcher no matter the competition.
“I have improved quite a bit,’ says Burggraaf, “because I was pitching against good teams and was getting more command of my pitches. I still got a lot of things to work on, but I’ll hit that hard and work on that.”
According to Fuller, the main thing he has to do – and a lot of young pitchers fall into the same category – is using his lower body more. The legs, hip and butt are where the main power source comes, both as a batter and as a pitcher, and Burggraaf needs to improve in that area.
“There is just a lot of things with my mechanics,” says Burggraaf. “Because I’m a pitcher only I need to develop and throw harder. And there are a lot of drills I can do for that.”
This summer, Burggraaf was consistently throwing in the 79-83 range on his fastball and he would like to move up to the mid-80s to high 80s. More velocity will likely come as he matures into his body, but also by focusing on his lower body and making sure that is used better.
Narrows Baseball pitching coach Antone Saltvick has really helped him, says Burggraaf. It was Saltvick who suggested he work to get his lower body more involved.
“He helped me quite a bit,” says Burggraaf. “He is a great pitching coach.”
Saltvick will continue to help out with Burggraaf during football and basketball seasons when time is available. Narrows Baseball has a facility in Gig Harbor where team members can come to work out and get that help.
“He has to increase his velocity if he wants to become a D-I pitcher,” says Fuller. “That will come in the off-season. I believe he can do it. This summer he faced good teams with kids two years older than him, some of them D-I players, and he more than held his own against them.
Fuller likens Burggraaf to Nick Gagliardi, who graduated from Gig Harbor this year and went 6-1 with Narrows Baseball’s U18 SPL team.
“He’s in the same spot Gagliardi was two years ago,” says Fuller. “Nick was throwing in the low 80s two years ago and this year he bumped it up. Two weeks ago in Portland he was throwing 92.”
Gagliardi, according to Fuller, had several D-I options, but is going pitch for Santa Clara, which he fell in love with after visiting the school. And Fuller believes Gagliardi has the potential to be a pro pitcher when in three years he’s eligible for the MLB Free Agent AmateurDraft.
As for Burggraaf, his future is right in front of him and it appears to be bright. All he has to do is keep on working hard, not get injured, and options for a D-1 school could be there.
“I would love to go to college for baseball,” Burggraaf says, “and I should be able to do that. Whether I get a scholarship or not, that is questionable. My dream would be to get a scholarship to some big baseball school. It just depends on the size of the scholarship, and whether it is 100 percent. There are very few of them given out. You have to be the best of the best to get that.
“I should be able to get an academic scholarship.”
For now, it’s a matter of Burggraaf living the high school dream, and taking part in as many activities as possible and remain focused on getting better as a pitcher. The rest, as they say, will take care of itself.
