Baseball: Laing to join Mannelly at New Mexico State

Through sheer coincidence, two of the top power hitters to come through Douglas High School in the last 10 years will be playing for one of the top offensive ball clubs in NCAA Division I next season.

Ryan Laing, who hit eight home runs for Douglas in 2006 and went on to win the Kelley Baseball Showcase Home Run Derby later that summer, signed with New Mexico State University last week. He is expected to play either first base or designated hitter.

He'll join former Tiger Phil Mannelly, who signed with the Aggies earlier this summer after starring in the outfield for Feather River College for the past two seasons.

It's an unexpected reunion for the duo, who represented the starting right side of the infield in 2006.

"After I left Douglas, I went to Los Angeles for my senior year of high school," Laing said. "I signed with Kansas out of high school after they offered me a small scholarship.

"I took that and I went there, but during the fall it just didn't seem to be a good fit for me. I transferred to a junior college in Kansas (Pratt) and got a lot of my extra classes out of the way."

Laing certainly turned some heads during his second season at Pratt. He broke the school record for home runs in a season (19), hitting a pair of shots in the final game to clinch it. His home run total led the NJCAA Region 6 and was fifth in the country. He also had 11 doubles, two triples and 61 RBIs while batting .400.

"I saw some good pitching there," he said. "I started kind of slow but I got in one of those grooves and hit a couple home runs. After that, the ball just started looking a little bigger to me.

The numbers were enough that Laing hoped to generate some interest heading into June's MLB First-Year Player Draft, but the call never came. Instead he focused on making the jump back to Division I baseball. He initially planned to return to Kansas but New Mexico State came up with a 50 percent scholarship offer.

"They told me their park is very hitter-friendly, and that's obviously pretty important to me," Laing said with a laugh. "They're a powerful club, they had a lot of success last year and I'm excited to be on board with them. They said with their park, it's not unreasonable to think I could hit 25 or 30 home runs there. Not that there's any pressure or anything."

It was around the same time New Mexico State showed up with the offer that Laing got back in touch with Mannelly.

"It was kind of a random thing," Laing said. "It was really ironic. We happened to get back in touch and I told him I was going to go to New Mexico State and he was like 'Hey, I just signed there.' It was just a 'small world' type of moment."

Mannelly also hooked Laing up with his summer baseball club in Atwater, Calif., where Laing has since posted a batting average of .450.

"I needed somewhere to play and he said he was heading down to Atwater," Laing said. "I joined the team about two weeks late, but it's been good experience. It's a wood bat league, so I'm getting some experience with that.

"Phil and I are good friends, we're hoping to room together at New Mexico State. If we can't, then we still know we'll be able to hang out all the time. It'll be cool."

After Laing left Douglas, Mannelly slid over to first base for the Tigers, where he drove in 30 runs in 2007. The Tigers won the Sierra League title and advanced to the Northern 4A Regional Championship Game that season.

"I really wish I could have stuck around for that," Laing said. "They had a great team. It would have been fun to be a part of."

Laing holds the Nevada State records for home runs (4) and RBIs (10) in a game, set in 2006 against Hug.

He said ultimately he wants to play professional ball and hopes to be drafted in the next two years.

"I've moved around so much, I think that has hurt me," Laing said. "I've heard some people say if I would have stayed where I was born (San Diego), I would have been drafted out of high school.

"But that's not what happened, so I just have to focus on getting better. I've played nothing else but baseball my whole life. This is what I want to do."