For Jennifer Daniel, they’re her summer kids — the young baseball prospects who stay with her and husband Scott while pursuing their dreams of making the major leagues.

The Daniels are just one of many North Carolina families who open their homes to players for the Holly Springs Salamanders in Holly Springs, N.C.

Last season, the couple hosted Parker Morgan, a former St. Louis High School baseball standout and current left-handed pitcher at LSU Eunice, and Nick Gisclair, one of his college teammates.

“We have children about the same age that had just left and so it was just kind of like having them back at home,” Jennifer said. “It was good. We enjoyed having them around.”

That was the second year the pair hosted collegiate summer league players.

“The first year we did it, I think maybe it was just a little bit awkward having somebody in the house — you didn’t know anything about them,” Scott said. “The two guys we had were great, though, so when the next year came up, (Jennifer) was like, ‘I signed us up to do it again.’ ”

Scott said the key is for their guests to make themselves at home so they don’t feel uncomfortable.

“There’s actually a lady that heads up the team that we did it for in North Carolina and I reached out to her and asked her what do you do the first time because I had never done this,” Jennifer said. “Her advice was to put a laundry basket on each of their beds. I asked them ahead of time what their favorite things were so I would put all of their favorite things in there with a little note welcoming them, where they see their name and their space and their area. I think it was important showing them that we care to get to know what they like ahead of time.”

Morgan said he felt comfortable with the Daniels from the moment they met.

“We were looking for family that kind of reminded us of Louisiana and I think the Daniels did a perfect job of that,” Morgan said. “They would fit in well in Louisiana. We kind of clicked from day one, in my opinion. Me and Nick both liked them a lot … we got really lucky.”

Last year was the first time Morgan had played in a collegiate summer league.

“I didn’t really know what to expect just because I mean, these were complete strangers, but it worked a lot better than I thought it would,” Morgan said. “We lived in their basement area. Once we were close and acquainted, it didn’t really take very long for us to go up and talk to them and hang out with them and they cooked dinner for us. It was awesome.”

Morgan said his mom did her due diligence before agreeing to let her son participate in the league.

“My mom did some background checking, of course, and she was like, ‘I think you’re gonna like these people,’ ” Morgan said. “We talked before I got there, and they seemed awesome. I was a little nervous on the ride out there, but when we first stepped out of the car when we first got there after our 14-15 drive it felt like home.”

Jennifer and Scott said they had a blast hanging out with the players and supporting them at their games.

“It’s kind of like you become sort of like family,” Jennifer said. “They would go to church with us, they would go eat with us, or we have some good friends that we all go to church together and eat afterwards. And we have a Fourth of July cookout at our house that they all came to. We would go to their games, we went to the beach, you put effort into it just like you would your own children.”

“They were very supportive,” Scott said. “They loved on our dogs like it was their dog.”

“Parker took a picture one time of Nick in the bed, and he had let our dog up in the bed with him,” Jennifer said. “We had a chocolate lab and Parker sent us the picture. I was like, that is so funny that they would even think to do something like that.”

Jennifer said she encourages Southwest Louisiana families to consider hosting team players for the inaugural season of the Lake Charles Gumbeaux Gators.

“It’s a commitment, but it’s not like, months and months,” she said. “Just try it one time and see if you’d like it. We’ve had a great experience with it so I would definitely encourage it. I don’t really know much about sports in general, I like to be in the atmosphere of sports, but it’s about the boys. The connection and being there for them and really thinking about how would you want your kids to be treated if they were traveling to another state. I think you’re kind of signing up to be like the parents, and helping them in whatever they need.”

Scott agrees.

“I think you just got to take a leap of faith and just do it,” he said. “We got so much enjoyment out of just because our son was moving out and our daughter was going off to college. We had a lot of fun. It’s kind of like having our kids back, you know? They will come in late from the games, eat something and we’d all just sit around in the den in there and talk and, you know, it was just a lot of fun.”

Even now, Scott said he keeps a text chain with the boys to talk about duck hunting.

“It was tough leaving,” Morgan admits. “Miss Jennifer shed a couple tears, but we have kept in touch through texts and calling throughout the fall.”

Morgan said it meant a lot to him to have the Daniels at his game.

“Every home game that I pitched, they were there every time,” he said. “That was really nice to see, you know, familiar faces in the stands when you’re coming from Louisiana. I would say that helped a lot because my family couldn’t be there. That was very nice when I would see them in the stands and kind of calm me down a little bit if I was ever a little worked up. I’ll have that bond for life.”

Their bond with Gisclair and Morgan remains so strong that the pair drove 14 hours to watch the boys pitch during a LSU Eunice game.

“Just to see them, and, you know, just to keep in touch,” Jennifer said. “And we’d like a road trip.”

The Lake Charles Gumbeaux Gators are getting ready for their May 30 debut and are looking for 10 families to host players this summer. It’s a two-month commitment. Those interested can email the team’s General Manager, Sam Moore, at smoore@visitlakecharles.org.