Graduate student Danny Corona has quite the baseball resume, which spans across various levels of competition. In his final year of NCAA eligibility, Corona has used his extensive baseball experience to lead a young Hofstra University baseball team to their highest potential.
Corona’s family heavily inspired him to start his baseball career at a young age. His father is a scout for the New York Yankees, and several of his uncles competed across various levels of competitive baseball.
“I was introduced to baseball at a young age by my dad,” Corona said. “I believe I started hitting baseballs and throwing baseballs around the house [at] around three or four years old. My first memories [of] playing [are] when I was six. I played in a local church league in Manhattan.”
As Corona grew up, he realized how big of a role baseball played in his formative years. He participated in the Under-12 Baseball World Cup in 2015 in Tainan, Taiwan, playing for Team U.S.A. and winning a gold medal after defeating Chinese Taipei 7-2 in the gold medal game.
“[Playing in Taiwan] was just such a cool experience as a 12-year-old,” Corona said. “Playing in a fully packed stadium of 15,000 people – that was an experience you can never get back.”
Corona, a Brooklyn native, recognized his love for baseball and passion for continuing to participate at the highest possible level of competition. So. he decided to leave New York and play in Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the Baylor School, a boarding school with a seasoned baseball program.
“Throughout middle school, I kind of knew I wanted to go to boarding school for baseball,” Corona said. “It’s just kind of hard growing up in New York City. We don’t really have the facilities or the weather that some other players have, so I wanted to give myself the best chance to play at the highest level. So, once I was around seventh grade, I started looking into boarding schools, and, luckily, I got to play with a player who went to the Baylor School. His dad was a coach, so they asked me to come tour, and that’s what led me there.”
While at Baylor School, Corona was part of three Tennessee Division II-AA state championships, where he earned First-Team All-State honors and was rated the No. 161 overall recruit for the 2021 class by Perfect Game.
Corona was drafted in the 16th round of the 2021 MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates, but he passed on the draft selection, opting to play at the collegiate level to focus on his education.
“I just felt like going to college and getting the education and development was the best decision for me,” Corona said.
“For some people, they like to go straight to [professional] ball, and I just felt like I wanted to get my education and just keep developing and eventually get back into pro ball.”
Corona played his first two years of college baseball at Wake Forest University. Between his two seasons with the Demon Deacons, he played 103 games, batted .275, hit 18 home runs and drove in 84 runs.
“[Playing at Wake Forest] was a lot of fun,” Corona said. “It felt like you’re going to the field every day with your brothers, and [it was] a team that everyone felt like you’re best friends with everyone. It was just such a close team.”
Wake Forest was the No. 1 seed in the 2023 NCAA Baseball Championship, and Corona played a significant role in their postseason run. In three games in the Winston-Salem Regional, Corona recorded four hits, three of which were home runs, and drove in 10 runs in a trio of double-digit victories over George Mason University and Northeastern University, earning Winston-Salem Regional All-Tournament recognition. Corona belted another trio of home runs in the Winston-Salem Super-Regional in a series sweep over the University of Alabama.
Wake Forest appeared in the lower bracket of the 2023 College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, after defeating Alabama. In the Demon Deacons’ first game of the tournament, Corona drove in the go-ahead runs against No. 8 Stanford University with a two-run single in the eighth inning. Wake Forest finished the tournament third overall, but Corona was proud of his accomplishments for a playoff team.
“[Going to Omaha] was truly everything,” Corona said. “Everyone mentioned how amazing that experience is; it really lived up to the standards. I had such a fun time down there, but [I was] a little sad we didn’t get to pull off [the win for the College World Series].”
Prior to his junior year, Corona transferred to the University of Missouri during a transitional period for the Tigers. Taking on a more specialized-player role for the team, he batted .240 on the season in 38 games and recorded 16 runs batted in.
The environment created in Missouri was vastly different from the environment created during Corona’s time at Wake Forest.
“[Wake Forest] was a winning program and culture, and [at] Missouri, we just couldn’t really figure it out,” Corona said. “We were trying all year, and we just kind of struggled to figure it out as a team. I believe it was our coaches’ first year coaching at Missouri, so they were trying to get accustomed to the change.”
After receiving surgery after his season with Missouri, Corona took a year off from playing collegiately but wanted to continue playing baseball. Going back on his earlier rescinding of an MLB Draft selection, Corona decided to play with the Trenton Thunder of the MLB Draft League in 2025.
The MLB Draft League is a six-team wood bat league that operates as an amateur-professional hybrid league. It features dozens of the nation’s top draft-eligible prospects. The first half of the season gives players a chance to showcase their skills in an amateur setting while the second half is played after the MLB Draft and reserved for paid players. Playing 15 games between the corner infield and as a designated hitter, Corona opted to retain his amateur status by leaving the Thunder shortly before the league’s break.
“The Draft League was amazing,” Corona said. “I didn’t get to play my senior year because I had surgery on my hip, so, at first, it was kind of hard going from not playing at all to adjusting [to] the Draft League, and you’re facing 95-96 [mile-per-hour pitches] every game. It did take a little getting used to, just getting back into the swing of things on the field, but the whole experience was amazing. It felt like what I would assume playing pro ball is like.”
Corona returned to Division I baseball the following season, ultimately making a stop at Hofstra for one final season.
“When I entered the portal, I initially wanted to come close to home,” Corona said. “It’s my last year of college baseball; I wanted to be somewhere where my family could come and see me. But I just kind of got blessed when I came to visit Hofstra, and I just fell in love with the coaching staff.”
Playing under head coach Frank Catalanotto, a 14-year MLB veteran, was a perk that Corona considered when committing to Hofstra. Corona has expressed gratitude toward playing for coaches with extensive professional experience, and that feeling is reciprocated by the coaching staff.
“[Corona] is just a good kid, and I’m happy to have him on the team,” Catalanotto said. “He’s a good presence on the team for these younger guys. We have a bunch of freshmen and sophomores, and I think [that his presence] is good for these guys moving forward.”
Corona is listed as one of two students with graduate student status, per the NCAA’s eligibility rules. While not the most outspoken player on the field, Corona uses his four prior seasons of Division I and Draft League baseball as a force to be reckoned with on the field. Defensively, Corona has been laying down the work at first base in a new-look infield makeup this season, only making three errors and contributing to 15 double plays on the season.
Despite a slow start and an early-season injury, throughout the second half of the Pride’s season, Corona has come out of his shell on the field and is returning to his old self: an offensive producer with refined plate discipline. Corona has used his stacked baseball resume to act as a guiding voice for the Pride.
“[Corona] is a veteran; he’s been around the game for a while, and he’s a leader,” Catalanotto said. “He brings a little bit of calmness to the guys when things are bad. He’s the one that’s talking and trying to lift everyone up, so I really like his leadership.”
Even off the field, Corona feels like Hofstra is the right place to be. Just like Wake Forest, Corona feels like Hofstra baseball has provided him with a familiar environment akin to his first college team. With the Pride clicking at the right moment, Corona is proud to be part of a team that is a cohesive unit on the field and off of it.
“Honestly, on this Hofstra team, I’m starting to really feel that as the season is going on, I feel like we’ve been building a tight bond as a team, and we’re really starting to figure it out,” Corona said.
As Corona prepares for commencement in a few weeks, it remains unclear what his post-graduate plans are. Like his baseball journey, he is taking every opportunity and keeping the same winning mindset, hoping it trickles down to the rest of the Pride.
