Tribe of Vikings Hall of Fame
There is no guarantee that if you looked up the word “clutch” in the dictionary that Erin Daniels’ wry smile would be what you see but don’t be surprised if that is what pops up. Daniels, quiet and efficient in every aspect of the game, seemed to pick big moments to shine the brightest.
Even though she was a two-sport standout in both basketball and softball, it was on the diamond that she made the biggest impact. And it seemed that the bigger the stage, the better she performed.
“The definition of clutch is Erin Dainels,” said her softball coach Kris Kistler. “She wanted to be up to bat when the game was on the line and more importantly, our team wanted her there too. She was extremely skilled with all the tools, but she took herself to the next level because of her desire and softball IQ. She was a tremendous leader with so much heart.”
There probably isn’t a better anecdotal story to support her ability to rise to the occasion than what played out in the championship game of the 2006 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin softball tournament. The Vikings had won the league title with a 13-1 record and were hosting the CCIW tournament with the NCAA automatic berth on the line.
Augustana won the first two games in the tournament and were facing Illinois Wesleyan in the championship game. The Vikings needed one win while the Titans, who had come through the loser’s bracket, needed to win two games to clinch the tournament title. The Vikings trailed 2-0 heading into the top of the seventh but scratched out a pair of runs to tie the contest.
Daniels, who spent the morning in the hospital emergency room with an IV in her arm because of a case of food poisoning picked up the night before, was the leadoff batter for Augustana in the top of the eighth. She was running on fumes and she knew it. Every inning she would come back to the bench and slump down, trying to reserve what little strength she had.
“I told everyone in the dugout that I didn’t think I could play another game,” she recalls. “I was spent and I didn’t have a whole lot left.”
She had enough, however, as she led off the top of the eighth with a line drive home run to the opposite field off Illinois Wesleyan reliever Valerie Hackett. The Vikings shut down the Titans in the bottom of the eighth and secured the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
Daniels came about her mental toughness because of her background as a young girl growing up in Dwight, Illinois. “I just never thought it was a big deal to play through pain,” she remembered. “I was also the youngest on the team when I was growing up and it was always stressed to me to put in the work and good things will come.”
Daniels missed her freshman year in softball due to a torn ACL suffered in the last basketball game of the 2002-03 season. When she finally got her chance on the diamond in the spring of 2004, she certainly made up for any time lost.
She was voted the team’s “Best Offensive Player” and set school records for runs in a single season (43) and at-bats (151) as she earned all-conference and all-region honors. She batted .351 with 53 hits in 151 at-bats and stole 23 bases as she sparked the Vikings from her leadoff position. Augustana went 36-9 in 2004, won the CCIW regular season and tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA Division III tournament.
It was more of the same for the extremely steady Daniels in 2005 as she hit .342 with 50 hits in 146 at-bats and was once again voted to the all-conference and all-region team.
While her first two years were really good, it was her senior season that solidified her as one of the best to ever pull on an Augustana uniform. She batted .459 with 61 hits in 133 at-bats while scoring 49 runs, a school record that stands to this day. She also hit eight home runs, had 30 runs-batted-in and stole 10 bases.
She was named the CCIW “Player of the Year” in 2006 and was named to the NCAA Division III All-America team as well as all-conference and all-region. She was voted team MVP and “Best Offensive Player” and was named to the Academic All-District team. The Vikings won the CCIW regular season with a 13-1 record and took the tournament title to her aforementioned heroics.
Augustana finished the season with a 33-10 record and during her career she helped the Vikings to a 102-31 overall mark and a 35-7 ledger in the CCIW.
Clearly, she was an impact athlete of the highest caliber and that started at an early age. She won her first golf tournament when she was six years old and she was a three-sport athlete (golf, basketball, softball) at Dwight High School.
“Augustana seemed like a good fit for me because I was able to play two sports and I loved that,” she commented on her decision to head to Rock Island to continue her schooling. “Jilian Widick (a Tribe of Vikings Hall of Fame member) was on the softball team, and I knew her from playing travel ball, so I was comfortable.”
She acknowledges that her parents (Mike and Cathy Daniels) gave her every opportunity to be involved in athletics as a youngster. “My parents were supportive and helped me find what I wanted to do,” she said.
While she was clearly a standout in athletics, she didn’t let academics or campus involvement take a back seat during her time at Augustana. She was Augustana’s nominee for the NCAA “Woman of the Year” in 2006 and twice she was named to the ESPN Academic All-District Team. She was treasurer of SAAC (Student Athlete Advisory Committee) and was also
an active member of Athletes Giving Back as well as a Boys and Girls Club volunteer and an accounting tutor and member of the Augustana Accounting Association.
“Even though we didn’t have great success in basketball while I was at Augustana, I would play two sports again,” she reflected. “I learned how to balance my day, and I needed to challenge myself to stay focused. I am at my best with deadlines.”
A double major in accounting and finance at Augustana, she was grateful for the opportunities given to her beyond the playing field. “Augustana gave me so many great experiences off the field as well,” she said. “All the professors cared deeply about creating a wonderful learning environment and the small class sizes helped me effectively navigate my busy schedule.”
She worked nearly five years as a CPA at McGladrey & Pullen and had other jobs at Grainger and ThermoFisher Scientific before settling into her current position as the senior director of sales strategy and enablement at Zillow.
Erin and her wife Pam O’Connor are the parents of sons Ryan and Shane and reside in Prospect Heights, Illinois. Erin stays busy as a coach for her son Ryan’s travel team and is the treasurer of the Prospect Heights Youth Baseball and Softball Leagues.
“Because of the support I had while at Augustana, I learned how to manage a lot of things at one time,” she said upon reflecting on her college years. “That has effectively translated into many of the jobs I’ve had since I left college. I have often been put into roles to solve large, complex problems and I think so much of my ability to be successful in doing that
ties back to the foundation created while I was at Augustana.”
