HOWELL — The Danny Hampton who entered Howell High School as a freshman in 2022 saw himself as more of a basketball player than a baseball player.
That self evaluation was strengthened when he made the varsity basketball team as a freshman.
But then baseball season came along. He also made the Howell varsity team as a ninth-grader, but he enjoyed a greater level of success on the diamond. Hampton was a backup basketball player as a freshman. In baseball, he was a first-team all-Livingston County selection.
“The jump from playing eighth-grade travel basketball to varsity was a lot different for me,” Hampton said. “That was definitely hard, because the first couple games I struggled a lot. Then in baseball, it seemed like I jumped right into it. There weren’t as many struggles as basketball season. There were still some struggles, but I got through those a lot more quickly and easily in baseball.”
A transformation had taken place. While he poured himself into basketball the next three winters, baseball became his focus the rest of the year.
“Baseball kind of took off for me,” Hampton said. “I just continued to see growth in that. Basketball has always been fun to me. Baseball just kind of took over.”
Hampton achieved first-team all-county status as a junior in basketball, but established himself as one of Howell’s all-time greats playing baseball.
He became the first four-time all-county first-teamer since Brighton’s Drew Henson from 1995-98, the county’s first Dream Team all-stater since 2019, the county’s first .500 hitter since 2011 and rewrote several Howell records.
Hampton is also the county’s Player of the Year, as selected by the Livingston Daily.
By going 53-for-106 to hit exactly .500, he became the county’s first .500 hitter since Howell’s Eric Henderson in 2011. Three years earlier, Matt Hunt hit a school-record .545 for Howell.
Hunt is now Howell’s head coach and helped Hampton take off after hitting .409 through his first nine games.
“We don’t see too many easy pitchers on our schedule, so to hit .500 against our opponents in this county is a very tough task,” Hunt said. “He’s an extraordinary athlete. I’m very proud of him for accomplishing that.”
The season ended better than any of Hampton’s previous seven varsity campaigns in his two sports, as Howell beat defending Division 1 champion Hartland to win a district championship.
“That was one of the best moments of my life, especially being able to beat Hartland in the final at Hartland,” Hampton said. “That was really cool because I hadn’t won a district yet. All my friends were like, ‘You haven’t won a district.’ This finally was the year.”
When his career numbers were finalized, Hampton set Howell records with 192 hits, 53 doubles, 12 triples, 451 at-bats and 89 walks.
“I really didn’t figure I would be able to do any of these things,” Hampton said. “My name’s going to be on the list behind the dugout a couple of times. I think it’s just about the preparation, especially in baseball knowing you’ve prepared to do what’s going to be the task today.”
Hampton will continue his career at Northwood University. He is playing his summer baseball close to his new home with a travel team in Midland.
He won’t be trying to squeeze in time on the basketball court over the summer as he has in the past, but he’s glad he stuck with the sport all four years he attended Howell.
“It helped me with the mental side of baseball,” he said. “The practices are very tough and long and grueling for basketball. Obviously, it got me faster and got me more in shape.”
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@livingstondaily.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Danny Hampton caps record Howell baseball career as county’s top player
Reporting by Bill Khan, Livingston Daily / Livingston Daily
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Bill Khan, Livingston Daily | USA TODAY Network
