Baseball: Mannelly signs with New Mexico State

There was a time, late in his senior year of high school, that Phil Mannelly was considering going to college just to be a student.

He would've been happy, he said, go forward with his career as a student-athlete behind him.

Instead, he chose to stick with baseball at Feather River College in Susanville. Two years later, he has signed with the up-and-coming NCAA Division I baseball program at New Mexico State.

"This is something that was definitely way out there for me when I was in high school." Mannelly said. "It's always a dream to go on to play at the next level, but I guess at some point you don't really see it happening for you.

"My only option to play ball out of high school was to go to Feather River. I thought about just going to school to go to school, but it ended up being a really great experience."

The left-handed Mannelly had a solid career at Douglas, playing four years of varsity ball and starting three of those. He was a first-team all-Sierra League honoree as a sophomore but was bumped to second-team honors during his junior and senior years despite hitting eight doubles, a triple and three home runs and driving in 30 runs as a senior.

It was once he set foot on campus at Feather River that he started to catch fire.

He led the Golden Eagles at the plate as a freshman with a .392 average. He also had seven doubles, four triples, a home run, 36 RBIs and 14 stolen bases, which brought him first-team All-Golden Valley Conference honors as a designated hitter.

This past season, he switched to right field and batted .373 with 16 doubles, three triples, 35 RBIs and 19 stolen bases on his way to repeat all-conference honors.

"After my first year as a designated hitter, my coach (Terry Baumgartner) wanted me to try to work on some outfield in the fall," Mannelly said. "He said he needed to find a spot in the field for me. I started to practice out there and I loved the outfield.

"I went to a showcase in the fall but didn't get much interest. There were a couple of NAIA schools and I heard from St. John's back east. My coach gave New Mexico State a call and they were interested. I guess they like left-handed hitters because their park is well-suited for them. I talked to them over a couple of weeks and it seemed like a good fit."

New Mexico State is coming off one of its best seasons, posting a school-record 44 wins and rising as high as No. 24 in the national rankings.

The Aggies are coached by Rocky Ward, who's dad, (assistant coach) Gary Ward is a college baseball hall of famer who coached Oklahoma State to 16 consecutive conference titles and 10 College World Series appearances from 1978 to 1996.

"I really loved their coaching staff," Mannelly said. "You've got one of the better college coaches all-time on the staff, it's pretty exciting.

"Being in the Western Athletic Conference too is great. There are some competitive coaches and teams and I'll get to play kind of close to home a couple times a year."

New Mexico State has also been a welcome home to Northern Nevada players as Wooster's Jeremy Joustra, Western Nevada's Chuck Howard and North Valleys' Chace Perkins all played for the Aggies last season.

"I liked the idea that my parents will be able to get over and watch some games, whereas if I went to St. John's, that would have been much tougher," Mannelly said.