By STEVE KRAH
http://www.IndianaRBI.com
Jacob Daftari is winding up what has been productive college career — in the classroom and on the baseball field.
A fifth-year senior at Indiana Tech in Fort Wayne, Daftari has earned a undergraduate degree in Business Administration with concentration in Sport Management and is about to complete a Master of Business Administration (MBA). Commencement is slated for Saturday, May 13.
A four-time scholar-athlete in high school, he has been an NAIA Scholar-Athlete and Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference All-Academic while at Indiana Tech.
“My parents are always stressing that academics come first,” says Jacob, the oldest child of Dr. Sanju Daftari and Dr. Julie Daftari, who met while attending the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine. “My parents have always stressed getting all your school work done before extracurricular activities or hanging out with friends.”
Younger brother Jackson Daftari is an Agricultural Business major at Purdue University who is planning to attend law school. Sister Jillian Daftari is a cheerleader at Hamilton Southeastern High School in Fishers, Ind.
As a righty-swinging second baseman batting second in the Indiana Tech Warriors batting order, Jacob Daftari is hitting .328 (44-of-134) with nine home runs, six doubles, 32 runs batted in, 41 runs scored and 21 walks.
“To me it’s all about comfortability,” says Daftari, who carries a .1012 OPS (.437 on-base percentage plus .575 slugging average) in 41 games (39 starts). “I like to see what the pitcher does to the lead-off batter. I know I’ll get pitched similarly.”
Daftari, 23, has three two-homer games in 2023 (Feb. 25 and Feb. 26 against Saint Ambrose of Iowa and March 4 vs. Bryan of Tennessee). He was named WHAC Player of the Week after going 7-for-14 with seven RBIs in the four-game sweep of Saint Ambrose.
For his college career (2019-23), Daftari has played in 176 games (148 starts) and is hitting .329 (168-of-510) with 23 homers, 30 doubles, 117 RBIs, 123 runs, 65 walks and a .965 OPS (.535/.430).
“My mentality is that even if I don’t barrel a ball I want to get on safely as much as I can for my teammates behind me,” says Daftari, a 5-foot-9, 175-pounder. “It’s all about passing the bat to the next guy and keeping an inning alive.”
Daftari appeared in 21 games as a freshman, hit .190 and was on the team that went to the 2019 NAIA World Series. He hit .359 during the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season. He put up marks of .341 in 2021 and .329 in 2022.
A middle infielder when he arrived at Indiana Tech, he was moved to third base and played there until moving to second base this spring.
“It’s what I’m most comfortable with,” says Daftari of second base. “I feel I can play a greater role there.
“At third base, anything but a routine play I could easily. Those routine plays got to my head a little bit.”
As well as hitters, Brent Alwine coaches Warrior infielders.
“He does a great job of ways at teaching us different ways we can think outside of the box in terms of making plays,” says Daftari. “There are plays where you need to think on your feet.”
Kip McWilliams is Indiana Tech’s head coach and Daftari has kind words for him.
“He’s a great individual,” says Daftari. “He’s also very knowledgeable about the game.
“He does what he can to put our team in position to win. Even when things aren’t going well he’s always motivating us to stay together and play for each other.”
Daftari played for the Indiana Summer Collegiate Baseball League’s Fort Wayne-based Kekiongas in 2019 and was an all-star in the College Summer League at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind., in 2020. He worked on his game, but did not play the past two summers.
Born in Indianapolis, Daftari grew up in Lawrence and played his early baseball at what is now Skiles Test Baseball and Softball and counted the Indiana Prospects, Indiana Nitro, Travelers Baseball and the Kevin Christman-coached San Francisco Giants Scout Team (the fall squad won a Perfect Game World Wood Bat Association title in Florida) among his travel ball teams. Jacob’s family moved to Fishers and he began attending Hamilton Southeastern Schools in the middle of his seventh grade year.
Daftari was a two-year varsity player at Hamilton Southeastern, where he graduated in 2018. His head coach was Scott Henson.
“He was more of a nitty-gritty coach,” says Daftari. “He wanted to make sure things were done correctly. He pushed us to be the best so we could eventually play at a higher level.
“We had a lot of guys who could play. Almost seems like Hamilton County breeds athletes.”
Indiana Tech (29-12, 15-8) goes to Cleary for two regular-season-ending WHAC doubleheaders. The games are slated for 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, April 29-30. The top six teams in the conference will play in the WHAC tournament begins May 4-5. The Warriors are currently seventh.
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