As the 2025 high school baseball season gets underway, there will be several names on the watch list. One of those names to look out for is Mill Creek (Ga.) senior Daniel Pierce. Pierce is one of the top players in Georgia in the class of 2025 and as a top 2025 MLB draft prospect.
Pierce, a four-year varsity shortstop and right-handed pitcher, batted .434 his sophomore year with four home runs, 25 RBIs, 16 doubles and 53 runs while receiving first-team all-county and all-region honors.
As a junior, he continued building on his skills at the plate. He batted .345 with two home runs, 25 RBIs, 12 doubles, 35 runs and 13 stolen bases to earn the 2024 Region 8-AAAAAAA Position Player of the Year title.
“I think I bring a five-tool player to the field,” Pierce said. “I possess a little bit of everything in the game. Power is coming on, it’s obviously not at its peak yet, but it’s on its way.”
Pierce committed to the University of Georgia in 2022 as a sophomore in high school. At the time, current head coach Wes Johnson wasn’t on the staff. However, Pierce admires Johnson’s coaching experience and talent in developing players.
“It’s kind of cool getting a guy that has done it all,” Pierce said. “And having a guy that is kind of a vet in the coaching world. You come in, and he has high hopes for you, but at the same time, he’s ready to get after you and push you to be the best you can.”
Growing up a Georgia fan, it was a dream come true for Pierce to sign with the Bulldogs. Before Pierce even stepped foot into Athens, Georgia, he already caught the attention of MLB scouts, who will continue to observe his talent as the 2025 MLB draft approaches.
Although he stands at 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds right now, Pierce wasn’t always one of the biggest guys on the field. He just recently started to build muscle mass and enhance his size.
“I’m kind of a late bloomer, so the weight room has been big recently,” Pierce said. “And just trying to get there every day and grind.”
Size has never held Pierce back before, so his growth in the weight room will only continue to threaten those he is hitting or pitching against.
“To finally watch his body kind of catch up with his mind and start growing and start maturing and start filling out and putting on weight… that’s pretty cool,” said Pierce’s dad Paul.
As most dads have, Paul has been alongside Pierce throughout his entire baseball journey, so watching him continue to develop into the player he is today has been a “blessing.” But Paul has experienced his son’s journey in a way that many dads haven’t, as he is also Pierce’s coach.
“I’ve kind of been in Daniel’s dugout all of his life,” Paul said. “Whether it was dugout dad, or just helping him get shoes on when [he] was little.”
After the conclusion of the 2024 high school season, Paul became Mill Creek’s new head coach. Although this is his first season in the head coaching role at Mill Creek, Paul isn’t new to this job. He was the assistant coach at Mill Creek beginning in 2016 and head coach at Collins Hill (Ga,) from 2004-15.
In addition to Pierce, Paul has also had the pleasure of coaching each of his three sons, including in 2022 and 2023 when all of them played on the same team at Mill Creek. For Paul, those two seasons of having all of his boys together in the dugout were very special.
“We had a win-or-go-home atmosphere, and my middle child threw the first three innings, my older boy threw two innings, and then Daniel came in and threw one or two innings,” said Paul. “And it was kind of cool to have the Pierces on the mound for a win or go home.”
Pierce’s unique experience as a coach’s son allowed him to be exposed to the sport at a young age and to see the sport from a different perspective. Even as a third grader, he took ground balls with the high schoolers when his dad was coaching practice.
“I kind of grew up in a coaching office, so I feel like I got some points of view that others don’t as far as the coaching world,” Pierce said. “And I can kind of translate it into the player world.”
As for now, Pierce is enjoying his final year of high school before taking the next steps in his baseball career, while Paul is taking in every last moment of coaching his youngest son in the sport that they both love.
“It’s always been cool to come to work with them,” Paul said. “And I don’t know if I will look forward to coming to work without them.”
