Manchester Black Panthers
February 6, 2018
With the 2018 spring season right around the corner, PBR Ohio is eagerly anticipating bringing the Buckeye state the best high school coverage throughout the entire state. Starting mid-January, we began releasing team previews for teams across the state, leading into the Preseason All-State Teams as well as the Preseason State Rankings.
To view the full list of 2018 Team Previews that we have already completed, please click here.
If you are a coach and haven't filled out your 2018 Team Preview, click here.
Interested in attending a PBR Ohio event? Check out our schedule by clicking here.
2018 Spring Team Preview: Manchester Black Panthers
Team Name: Manchester Black Panthers
Head Coach: Shawn Johnston
Division: III
2017 Record: 14-11
Conference Record: 11-3, 1st
Returning Starters/Pitchers: 2/2
Team Strengths:
- Senior Leadership
- Juniors with Experience
- Pitching
Coach Outlook: “We are going to be young overall. The leadership of the senior groups we have had the past 3 years have been instrumental to the program's success and preparing this years group to continue the tradition. Our seniors this year are great kids and will be excellent leaders to the younger players. What they lack in varsity experience, they make up for with with hard work and a desire to win. They have talent and it will be interesting to see how they respond this season with the challenge to be the guys to carry the load after 2 and 3 years of waiting for their opportunity because of the large number of seniors in the class ahead of them. With that being said, there are a lot spots to fill and the competition is wide open to whoever steps up to earn a position. We have some juniors that are also talented and a couple have quality varsity experience. Our junior varsity team has done well the past few years and there are younger players eager to get their chance. There are more kids coming out for baseball here at Manchester than ever before. I accredit that to the success of the previous coaching staffs and their hard work to build this program (Coach Taylor, Coach Mauger, Coach Graham, and still coaches Snyder and Kaufman). I am excited to see how this situation pans out and how this group responds.”
PBR Outlook: Returning just two guys from a year ago has coach Johnston going with a youthful movement in 2018. That said, look for the Panthers to get better as the year goes on with a chance of doing something come tournament time thanks to a strong coaching staff.
Top Returning Players:
- 2018 Brock Speedy (OF) – Uncommitted
- 2019 Michael Paljich (RHP/C) – Uncommitted - Video below
- 2019 Nick Mayer (INF/RHP) – Uncommitted
- 2018 Michael Rector (RHP) – Uncommitted
- 2018 Luke Johnston (P) - Uncommitted
Top Underclassman:
- 2019 Michael Paljich (RHP/C) – Uncommitted - Video Below
- 2019 Nick Mayer (INF/RHP) – Uncommitted
- 2019 AJ Johnson (RHP) – Uncommitted
- 2019 Jared Noirot – Uncommitted
- 2020 Quin Summers (LHP) – Uncommitted
- 2020 Ryan Wike (Util) - Uncommitted
A Look Back At The 2017 Season:
To view the 2017 Team Previews, click here.
To view the OHSAA Baseball Tournament Roundup, click below.
- State Final Four Roundup
- State Final Four Scouting Notebook
- News, notes and numbers from each of the top prospects at state
- ABC's of the OHSAA State Tournament
- 6th Annual Top 22 All-Tournament Team
To view the 2017 All-State Teams, click below.
To view the 2017 Preseason All-State Teams, click below.
A Look Back At 2016 Preseason Articles:
To view the 2016 Team Previews, click here.
To view the 2016 Preseason All-State Teams, click below.
A Look Back At 2015 Preseason Articles:
To view the 2015 Team Previews, click here.
To view the 2015 Preseason All-State Teams, click below.
