He may hail from the other side of the country, but Doubledays reliever Matt Daly is enjoying his time on the east coast and looking forward to sticking around for a while.

“I like it here a lot,” Daly said. “I have played the past two summers in the Cape Cod League and I would like to keep playing out here. The entire organization is here and I am lucky to be in this organization. I enjoy playing here quite a bit.”

Daly is from Yorba Linda, Calif. and attended college at the University of Hawaii where he was an All-American pitcher his freshman year and where he also got his second chance at the major leagues.

“I had the opportunity to play straight out of high school but I chose to go to college first,” Daly said. “I am really glad I got the chance again.”

Daly said he doesn't regret his decision to go to college first and follow his baseball dreams later.

“I wanted to experience college first,” Daly said. “I wanted a chance to really grow up and mature as an individual, become a man.”

Drafted in his junior year, the sociology major was selected in the 13th round and is now primarily a relief pitcher for the Doubledays.

With three saves so far, Daly has pitched 11 innings, throwing a total of 13 strikeouts and allowing only six hits. With a 0.00 ERA through Friday, Daly also leads the team in appearances (10).

“I go out there trying to compete as hard as I can every time,” Daly said. “I am having a great time as a first-year player.”

Playing baseball since he was 3 years old, baseball is the only sport Daly ever took an interest in.

“In high school I was always the smaller pitcher,” Daly said. “I had a pretty good fastball and worked hard. I also played in a lot of summer leagues like the Yankee Scout League.”

Drawing his inspiration from professional players, especially Nolan Ryan, Daly loved to watch Major League Baseball but never had a favorite team.

“I just never took to one team,” Daly said. “It's the sport overall really, I'm not a one team kind of guy. It was more of the individual players that stuck out to me and inspired me.”

And if Daly doesn't fulfill his big league dreams, he knows he has one more year of college to go.

“I'm glad I only have one year left of school,” Daly said. “It's much easier to think of than if I had all four ahead of me still. I know that if my big league dreams don't happen I would want to work on homes. I love working with my hands and I am into architecture stuff. My favorite channel to watch on television is HDTV.”

As much as he would like to eventually build houses, for now Daly is content working his hands on the mound.

“I am having fun as a first-year player here,” Daly said. “I enjoy my time with all the guys, it's fun and hard work at the same time. I get paid to play a game I love, you can't ask for more than that. So my dream is definitely to make it all the way, hopefully not 15 or 20 years from now either. The sooner the better.”

Daly is also looking forward to more success at Falcon Park, taking in all of the advice he can get and playing as hard as he can.

“I want to keep getting better,” Daly said. “I take in what all the coaches say and keep competing as hard as I can.”