Wherever his Vicksburg Missy Gators played this season, coach Brian Ellis would usually hear two things.

The first was a compliment about his shortstop, Torey Daniels. The second was the question, “How hasn’t she signed with anybody?”

Ellis would shrug his shoulders to answer, but neither he nor Daniels have to do that any more. On Friday, Daniels signed with Holmes Community College.

“It makes me feel good about myself that I can accomplish this much, and I want to see where it’ll take me,” Daniels said. “I think I can hang with them. I just wanted to get past this part of it.”

Daniels started her softball career as an outfielder. She moved to shortstop at the urging of one of her summer team coaches, much to the dismay of her father, Mark. He’d worked to train Torey as an outfielder through her youth.

“All he hit to me was pop flies. Then I turned out to be an infielder,” Torey said with a chuckle. “He wanted me to be an outfielder more than anything.”

Daniels became Vicksburg’s starting shortstop as a freshman and soon became a fixture there. A five-year starter for the Missy Gators — the last four at shortstop — she seemed to get better with each passing season.

After leading the team in hitting in 2014, she hit .333 with seven doubles, 14 RBIs and 23 runs scored this season. Her defense also provided the Missy Gators with a steadying presence in the middle infield.

“Her knowledge of the game is huge. Her skill set is incredible, but everything is a reaction with her. That’s when you know you’ve got somebody special,” Ellis said. “She’s one of those players that, as a coach, you can tell college coaches she can play for their program and she’s not going to discredit you.”

Daniels said she enjoys the ability to direct the infield and be a leader that the shortstop position brings.

“I liked being able to tell everybody where to go. It’s kind of a control position. You have to have a little bit of leadership,” she said. “I like to let them know where to go and make sure everybody is in the right spot at the right times.”

For all of her success, Daniels wasn’t on the radar of a lot of college coaches. She hadn’t been on the travel ball circuit for the past two summers, which is where a lot of recruiting takes place.

In addition to Holmes, Daniels had a scholarship offer from East Mississippi and a walk-on offer at Itawamba Community College. Holmes had the most to offer, she said.

“I liked the school and the coach, and it gave me a better feeling than the other schools that offered me,” Daniels said.