Former MLB catcher Ben Davis’ family is full of athletes. His daughter Riley might be the best.

One of Riley Davis’ first recollections of lacrosse was wondering what the stick was for. She was 7 years old and so used to playing basketball that she thought it was weird to have something in her hands other than a ball. Her mother, Megan, played lacrosse in high school and at Rutgers, where she was a two-sport athlete. She wanted to introduce her youngest daughter to lacrosse, and that came with acclimating Riley to the stick.

While other girls her age often fumbled with the stick, tripping over it or dropping it, Riley did not.

Scooping up a ground ball came naturally to her. She would run around unaware of what she was doing. She knew enough to run to the goal. She wanted to play so badly that she was willing to play an age group up with her sister Finley, who is 16 months older. But one of Riley’s earliest lacrosse moments was not a good one. She played goalie because the local recreation team did not have one. She gave up 10 goals on 12 shots. She does recall, however, that her team won.

The 5-foot-10 junior midfielder from Notre Dame Academy in Radnor has been winning on a lacrosse field ever since.

Entering the 2026 school year, every major lacrosse outlet named Davis as the nation’s No. 1 player for the 2027 class. In September, Davis committed to Penn State, making program history by becoming the first No. 1 national recruit to commit to the Nittany Lions and new coach Kayla Treanor, with an extensive scholarship package.

Riley is a two-way midfielder, meaning she plays the length of the field offensively and defensively. She is still honing her skills in the craft of the draw, and once she gets that down, her coaches believe she will dominate that area of the game, too.

It had always been Riley’s goal to be the No. 1 player in the country. Two weeks ago, she was named first-team all-state in basketball as a 1,000-point scorer for the three-time Inter-Ac League champion Irish. She could have gone to any number of Division I schools for hoops.

One glance at Riley’s genetics and it figures. It is almost as if she was destined to be No. 1 in something.

Megan Davis, one of Notre Dame’s assistant coaches, played soccer and lacrosse at Rutgers — a rarity in any era of collegiate sports. Her father, Ben Davis, part of the NBC Sports Phillies broadcast team, was the No. 2 overall pick out of Malvern Prep in the 1995 draft by the San Diego Padres — another rare feat for a high school catcher from the Northeast. Her older brother Tague set the Louisville freshman home run record (18) last year and is leading the nation in RBIs in his sophomore season. Finley, a Notre Dame senior defender, is headed to Furman University to play lacrosse.

“I remember Finley telling me, ‘She’s terrible,’” Megan recalled with a laugh about Riley’s infamous goalie game. “She would just run around and not know where she was going. She just wanted to score.”

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It’s still the mentality.

Riley has scored 44 goals with six assists (50 points) and 53 draw controls for Notre Dame, which is 8-4 overall and ranked No. 15 in the country by Inside Lacrosse in a stacked area that has five of the nation’s top 25 teams (including Episcopal Academy, Conestoga, Penn Charter, and Agnes Irwin). The Inter-Ac is one of the best girls’ lacrosse leagues in the country.

Over her career, Riley has scored 204 goals, with 60 assists and 300 draw controls.

She is difficult to defend with her ability to change direction, her size, speed, and natural athleticism.

But this may not have been possible without her mother and sister. Megan originally received some pushback in allowing Riley to play in the upper age group on the club level, which had more to do with family logistics juggling three athletic children who were engaged in various sports. Instead of taking Finley and Riley to practice with two separate club teams playing in two tournaments, Megan did not have to divide her time traveling from one practice to another.

“That time playing older girls for such a long time in club helped,” said Riley, who began playing against girls her own age in the fall of 2024. “I always had to raise my level going against older, bigger, stronger girls. I did get a little beat up early on. But I don’t see lacrosse as prominent in my life if it was not for my mom. I think I would have gravitated towards lacrosse, but I don’t know if I would take it nearly as seriously as I do. These next few months won’t be easy, though, because I won’t be able to play with Finley anymore. I want to win for her this year, and the seniors. I don’t like to think about it because me, my mom and Finley have always been together on a lacrosse field.”

Ben and Megan never forced their children to play sports. Tague did not find out his father played seven years in the majors until he was 11. The girls had a clue their mother played sports in college but had no idea just how good she was.

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“Riley is the best athlete in the family,” Ben said. “Her speed certainly didn’t come from me. Riley was always doing something. She could never sit still. And she does not accept losing well — it stays with her. But Meg and Finley are big reasons why Riley is as good as she is. Riley always felt she had to catch up with everything Finley did. Meg shaped Riley as a coach, Finley shaped her as a player and shaped her toughness.

“Riley has been given a lot, and she realizes she has been given a lot. It’s why she is so humble. She’s the No. 1 player in the country and you wouldn’t know it. Meg and I wanted to instill our children to be the best versions of themselves on and off the field. Riley is very hard on herself, and she’ll listen to Finley. These are special times for our family. Between four kids through all these years going here and there, we don’t have time to breathe. I tell Meg we’re going to miss these times.”

Because Notre Dame plays in the Inter-Ac, the Irish do not compete in the PIAA state playoffs. Notre Dame plays in a postseason tournament as part of the Pennsylvania Independent School Athletic Association. In girls’ lacrosse, the PAISAA is a superior tournament. The Inter-Ac features national-level programs including Notre Dame, Episcopal Academy, Agnes Irwin, and Penn Charter.

This past winter, Notre Dame three-peated as Inter-Ac girls’ basketball champ, with Riley being the core of the team during that span. The Irish reached the semifinals of the PAISAA state tournament, falling to eventual state champion Friends’ Central. In lacrosse, Notre Dame last won a PAISAA state championship in 2019.

Riley would like to change that this season.

“I want to leave winning something [in lacrosse] and this is an important time, because it’s for Finley and the seniors,” Riley said. “I know I’m a target. I overhear things like ‘Riley is overrated,’ stuff like that. I laugh. It’s cool being No. 1, but I want our team to be No. 1. I have more determination because our schedule is harder. I put pressure on myself, and I’ll admit I can better deal with things like being shoved in the back after I score. I need to be more patient.”

She is finding out being the No. 1 player in the country comes with being constantly face-guarded from the opening draw, as well as being double- and sometimes triple-teamed.

Notre Dame coach Anna McNevin spends time before games talking to Riley about what an opposing team may do. Opponents want to get Riley rattled; they want to get her tossed from games.

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“We tell Riley this will probably never change going forward; she will always be the center of attention,” said McNevin, who is in her third year as head coach. “She has faced a new level of physicality this season. But Riley is one of the most athletic human beings I have ever witnessed. She is like a jaguar with a lacrosse stick. With her basketball background, because the sports are so similar, she brings a natural high IQ to lacrosse. On top of that, Riley is a great kid. Everyone likes to find flaws. It is funny, people came up to me who met Riley the first time and say they were really hoping they wouldn’t like her. But they all do.

“Riley is not who she is without Meg and Finley. They are the anchor and the force that keeps Riley on her path. What’s scary is Riley’s best lacrosse is ahead of her. When she gets bigger and stronger, with access to everything Penn State has, she’s going to make a bigger transformation.”

Riley would drive to the net as Finley would defend her in practice, and the first thing out of Finley’s mouth would be “That’s terrible. Do it again.”

Finley is bracing herself for what is to come. Meg was the first to put a lacrosse stick in Riley’s hands, but it was Finley who harped on how to cradle the ball ear to chin, and how to run without losing the ball.

It was Finley who selflessly pushed her baby sister to be better than her.

“I’m really going to miss her,” Finley said. “I’m proud of her. I know I could push Riley harder. This ending will not be easy. We played together for 10 years. I know she wants to win for me this year, but I want to win for her and my mom. Riley is incredibly special. I take pride in that. Once I go to Furman, I’m going to pick up a ground ball, look up the field and be like, ‘Where is she?’”