Manca Heading South To Play At Florida State

WINCHENDON, Ma. - When November snow hit the Northeast it was a reminder to Payton Manca.

“I’ve always wanted to play in the south but I knew I had to work harder,” explained the Combine Academy junior. “We’ve had some snow already and that makes me want to play in the south even more.”

The 25th-rated 2023 in New England will get that opportunity after receiving an offer and making a commitment with Florida State.

“During the summer while pitching for my travel team my coach asked me to list my top five schools and Florida State was one of them,” Manca reflected. “He had a connection with them and we sent video. They were interested and we kept in contact. They offered right before the Future Games.”

The left-handed hitting, southpaw pitcher excelled at the PBR event and FSU was there to witness it.

“They watched me there and liked how I pitched and my style,” Manca related. “They wanted me to come to a camp and I went and fell in love with the school. Tallahassee’s a place I want to play college baseball.

“My dad’s always been an FSU guy and it’s been my dream school,” Manca continued. “Once I was on campus and met everyone it felt like a good choice for me. It’s a good-sized town, but not busy like a city.”

Manca made an impression on the coaches at the Atlantic Coast Conference school.

“They like that I’m a big lefty and very projectable,” the 6-5 245-pounder noted. “They said I move well and like my 12 o’clock arm slot and that I can throw breaking balls for strikes.”

The second-ranked 2023 first baseman in New England is hoping to also have a chance to see time in the field.

“I’m not sure about that, but the coach said they’re known as Two-way U,” Manca said. “So I guess there’s a good chance. Hopefully, in the next two years I can get better and do both.”

Pittsburgh, Bryant, Northeastern and Boston College are among the other schools enamoured with Manca, who credits recent improvement with benefitting his recruitment.

“I’ve tried to lose some weight and change the body to move a little quicker,” Manca explained. “When I did that I got more velocity. I actually got to 90 in the fall.”

It helped attract Florida State to the big left-hander, who admittedly had a lot of uncertainty with the recruiting process early on.

“At the beginning I didn’t know much about it and there was also the dead period with Covid,” Manca related. “I sent out video of me practicing and I went to three PBR events which really helped my recruitment. The Future Games helped my exposure and got me a lot of looks I hadn’t seen before.”

Not long after, the dream of playing at the next level was a reality for the 17-year-old, who credited Jake Sheley and Jason Ferber with helping in the recruiting process.

“When I was a little kid I’d go out in the backyard with my dad and play wiffle ball,” Manca reflected. “Once I was older I started playing travel ball. I was working at it 24-7 and around 14U is when I knew I wanted to play college baseball.

“At the end of summer last year is when it really started to happen. I got my first two college looks. Then when I went south with travel ball and schools reached out I’m like, this is getting realistic and I started getting recruited a ton.”

Sport management or “something with sports” is the planned major for Manca, who had a 4.0 GPA his first term this school year at Combine Academy.

“I’m really looking forward to the whole experience at Florida State, meeting new people, rooming with freshman baseball players and getting a feel for the college experience,” Manca concluded.

Still, the 15th-ranked junior from Massachusetts admits the idea of heading south to the Sunshine State for college is hard to believe.

“It really didn’t feel like it was true,” Manca said. “They don’t really recruit Massachusetts kids. But once I got off the phone and posted it on instagram it was a reality. A dream had come true.”