Garner traveling the country

Harvest, Ala., senior Daniel Garner is considered one of the top high school catchers in the country.

The 6-foot-1, 200-pounder has spent the summer traveling the country hitting in the three-hole for the Dulins Dodgers 18U team out of Memphis, Tenn.

The Dodgers are ranked fifth nationally and finished third in the wood bat association in East Cobb, Ga. Garner also participated in the North-South Alabama All-Star game in Montgomery a current 23-day road trip that has taken him from one end of the U.S. to the other.

Garner is currently in Long Beach, Calif., playing the Area Code Games as part of a 23-consecutive day road trip.

"It's going great," Garner said. "I was at East Coast Pro over in Lakeland (Fla.) and when that finished up we flew out to L.A. for these Area Code Games. I've been pretty busy this summer."

So far this summer Garner has participated in three out of the top four showcases in the country.

Garner ended his recruitment early on in the process by committing to Mississippi State back during the fall. At that time Garner had been contacted by over 40 programs around the country but Garner already had his mind made up to become a Diamond Dog.

"The coaching staff is unbelievable," Garner said. "They are one of the best coaching staffs in the country. I really felt like I was wanted there plus all of the facilities there were unbelievable at Mississippi State with the Palmeiro Center. Dudy Noble (Field) is first class. That's where I wanted to go so that's why I went ahead and committed."

The Sparkman High School standout pledged his services despite MSU coming off three consecutive losing seasons. But Bulldogs were able to turn things around this spring advancing to a Super Regional and finishing with a No. 18 ranking.

"You knew they were going to do that and are going to continue to do that with (John) Cohen as the head coach," Garner said. "If you can win at Kentucky and turn that into a baseball school then there is no question. He's just an unbelievable coach and I had doubts they were going to turn the corner and will start winning SEC championships and go to Omaha."

Garner's busy summer has kept him from attending any of State's camps this summer but he did make a trip to Starkville for a hitting camp in January. He intends to sign with the Diamond Dogs in November.

Mississippi State currently has two catchers on its 2012 commitment list with Garner and Houston, Miss., standout Jacob Shempert. Garner also occasionally plays on the same summer league team as Bulldog commit John Marc Shelly.

"I know Jacob really well," Garner said. "He's a great guy. He plays for Marucci and we played against them some this summer. I know him pretty good. John Marc played on my team this summer so I talked to him a lot."

Last season Garner hit .420 with eight home runs, 14 doubles and 30 walks improving upon his sophomore numbers of a .357 average with seven long balls for Sparkman. This summer he was clocked with a 1.85 pop time at 82 miles per hour.