First Capitol News Athlete of the Week
“Never take anything for granted, in sports or in life. If you let up things can change very quickly.”
Danny Hopkins, Senior, Orchard Farm High School
By: Mike McMurran
Sports Editor
For generations parents have been telling their children to enjoy high school. “They’re the best times of your life,” is usually how it goes. When you think about it, what a sick thing to say to your child. To paraphrase, you are saying “its all downhill from here kid.”
For Orchard Farm senior Danny Hopkins, not only will life most likely get better, it should most certainly get significantly easier. All Danny does is play football from August until November, basketball from November till March, and baseball from March until June. Oh, did I mention in the mean time he managed to maintain good enough grades to earn an academic scholarship to Blackburn College in Carlinville, IL.
Danny is certainly my kind of guy; of all three sports he likes football the best, which is what he will be playing at the next level. “I love football. Don’t get me wrong, I give everything I have to basketball and baseball, but football, well, football is life,” says the senior, obviously mature beyond his years.
It is baseball that earned Danny “First Capitol News” Athlete of the Week honors though. Danny is presently sitting on an impressive 1.75 earned run average, while maintaining one of the leading strikeout to walks ratio in the entire region. “We’re 5-7 right now,” explained Hopkins, “but 4 of them games we lost in extra innings. So we are really looking forward to district play. I think we can make some noise this year,” he boasts. “I don’t want to look too far ahead, but I can see us playing Whitfield for the district title.”
The Eagles are presently sitting on a two game winning streak, with victories over Elsberry (5-2) and Brentwood (11-2). Danny is making contributions with his bat, hitting right at .300, his glove, as he patrols centerfield, and his arm, as he serves as the closer – he is sitting on 2 saves.
Danny lives with his mom and dad, Jane and David Hopkins, and 4 year old little sister Jamie in the Stable Ridge subdivision in north St. Charles City. Both Jane and David attended St. Charles High, where David was a member of the 1983 state championship football team. Danny gets his athletic ability from both sides of the gene pool, “my mom was a pretty good softball player in high school,” he shares.
He not only inherited his parents’ athletic ability, both serve as his role models in life. “Never take anything for granted, in sports or in life. If you let up, things can change very quickly. My parents have stressed that to me my entire life. The older I get the more I realize how much my parents have done for me.”
Danny knew what the last question was to be, and he grinned from ear to ear as he shared his favorite eating establishment and entrée: “T.G.I.F.’s is where I would go, and Sesame Jack Chicken Strips is what I would order. “
To nominate an athlete contact Mike McMurran at mcmurran@charter.net or 314.280.9189
