A baseball Terrier: How Lucas Manning went from playing at West Forsyth to shining at Wofford
Published 12:00 am Thursday, August 1, 2024
Lucas Manning steals second base in the Chapel Hill regional against LSU. - Megan Fleming
Lucas Manning in a game for West Forsyth - Alphonso Abbott Jr.
Lucas Manning hits in the Southern Conference championship game. -Megan Fleming
Lucas Manning catching at west Forsyth. - Ivy Daniel
Southern Conference Champion Lucas Manning - Megan Fleming
Lucas Manning catches in the New England Collegiate Baseball League for the ECBL for the Vermont Mountaineers. - Submitted
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By Jay Spivey
For the Clemmons Courier
Lucas Manning is a baseball player who is maximizing his time as a college athlete.
Manning, a 2022 graduate of West Forsyth, played his freshman year of college at Holy Cross before transferring to Wofford and playing there this past year as a sophomore.
It’s worked out well for Manning, who is listed as 5-foot-11 and 185 pounds and has played catcher and designated hitter. He just recently had a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament at the Chapel Hill Regional after winning the Southern Conference Tournament the previous weekend. In Chapel Hill, Wofford played against 2023 NCAA reigning national champion LSU twice, as well as Long Island University.
“It really was cool, sitting in the room watching the selection show and seeing our name pop up under my home-state school was amazing, and it was an amazing experience for my whole family that got to come,” Manning said. “I did have a lot of family and friends there. Tried to scoop up as many tickets as I could. But it was an awesome experience for me, but more importantly, it was an even cooler experience for, I think, my family.”
Although about to start his junior year at Wofford, which is in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Manning has been playing baseball since he was a young child.
“I’ve been a catcher since the womb almost,” he said.
It was a unique story of how he came about wanting to be a catcher.
“Ironically, there is a story that me and my parents, me and my family always joke about,” Manning said. “My parents took me to a Winston-Salem Warthogs (now Winston-Salem Dash) game when I was about four or five. And they didn’t think I was paying attention or anything. I was just eating cotton candy and eating all the snacks, sitting behind home plate.
“And little did they know I was infatuated with the catcher. I liked the gear, I liked how they were involved. I just thought it was so cool.”
His love for catchers quickly escalated that night.
“When we got back to the house, I was like mimicking the catcher for hours on end,” Manning said. “And they were like, ‘Wow. I guess he was paying attention.”
Even at the tender age of four or five, he has fond memories of his first experiences as a catcher.
“I do kind of remember like being at that ballpark as a young kid, I think I got my first set of catcher’s gear like, I want to say 5,” Manning said. “There’s a picture of me and it’s like, I’m in, you know, they don’t make catcher’s gear for 5-year-olds. You know, it’s catcher’s gear that’s eight sizes too big and I got my little glove on and I thought I was the real deal.”
Manning began to play at Southwest Little League and learned how to play catcher.
“I feel like it, I couldn’t see myself playing any other position just because I think it really aligns with my overall personality and my gung-ho attitude,” he said. “I consider myself a pretty hard-working person,” Manning said. “I like getting to work. I don’t mind, you know, taking those beatings here and there. So, my whole game is just playing hard and seeing where the cards lie.”
Once it was time to go to high school Manning had a tough decision to make. Manning lives in the Reagan district, but he wanted to play for West Forsyth.
“The reason I went to West Forsyth was I grew up playing at Southwest Little League, played with all my friends out there, and all of them lived in Clemmons,” he said. “I didn’t live in Clemmons. I wanted to go to West and play with my friends and potentially win a state championship.
“And I knew we were going to be good if we got all my buddies together. So, I went to West Forsyth, played there for four years, had a great time.”
Although Reagan is the arch-rival for West Forsyth, Manning knew what he wanted as a child.
“It came down to the fact that like I remember being little and like seeing that 2014 (NCHSAA Class 4-A) state-championship team and I was like, you know, ‘I want to do that.’ I don’t know, it just came down to, West is a good school academically and I was going to be able to play with my friends, so I just rolled with that.”
Upon arriving at West Forsyth as a freshman with Coach Brad Bullard, who was the head coach at the time, it helped make him the player he is now.
“I say this all the time to my parents, my four years at West Forsyth and playing in the CPC conference (Central Piedmont 4-A) and being in the Winston area in high school allowed me to play so much high-level competition in high school, which a lot of kids don’t get to experience in high school. They have to play, you know, the travel circuit and whatever it is.”
Even though Manning and the rest of his teammates with the Titans had a shortened season in 2020 because of COVID-19, his time there seasoned his talent.
“I was fortunate. We were facing Division I arms, you know, every Friday night, facing guys that got drafted. I played with guys that got drafted,” he said. “And for me, it gave me an edge going into college because once I got to the Division I level – I played on a big stage. I played in front of almost 1,000 people on a Friday night. Like, I played against big players on a big stage and that kind prepared me for that next level.”
As a junior for West Forsyth, where he had a 4.3 GPA, Manning started getting some looks from colleges. He said he was recruited by Ivy League schools, UNC Asheville, Western Carolina, but he ultimately picked Holy Cross, which is a school in Worcester, Mass., and it plays in the Patriot League.
Manning carried that momentum into his senior season for the Titans. As a senior, he batted .362 overall, .500 in conference play, and helped the team reach the NCHSAA Class 4-A quarterfinals.
“I am a very good student, and out of high school, one of my biggest things was I wanted to go to a really good school,” he said. “And I wanted my baseball ability, as well as my academics, of course, because I did have good grades to be a vehicle for me to get a degree from a really good institution.”
After making his decision on Holy Cross he received the prestigious Eric J. Walker Scholarship from Southwest Athletics. Manning is also a studio art major.
When he arrived at Holy Cross, Manning learned the art of being a Division I baseball player. He played in 32 games and started 29, mostly as a catcher. He batted .287 with seven doubles, one triple, and one home run.
“As a student I did pretty well in the classroom,” he said. “It was definitely challenging and it tested me in a lot of ways, but ultimately as a player, I had a good year, not a great year. I had a solid year, especially for a freshman playing every day in Division I baseball.”
After his freshman season with Holy Cross, he entered the transfer portal.
“My main thing was I wanted to play more competitive baseball,” Manning said. “And the reality is, like you’re talking the weather has a lot to do with it.
The most competitive baseball is down here, down South.”
Once in the portal, Manning said it came down between William & Mary and Wofford. He chose to head to Wofford, which is a Southern Conference school in Spartanburg.
“I picked Wofford because it’s an unbelievable culture,” he said. “It’s a winning culture. Really good baseball program. I wanted the opportunity to potentially play in the NCAA Tournament. It’s 21/2 hours from my house. I love the coaching staff, great facilities. Like I said, they win and I’m all about winning.”
As a sophomore with the Terriers, Manning played in 50 games this past season and batted .343 in 28 starts split between catcher and DH. He had 37 hits, 39 runs, six doubles, two triples, 20 RBIs, 18 walks and 13 stolen bases.
Manning also helped Wofford to a 42-20 record, including winning the Southern Conference championship, defeating Samford right up I-85 from Spartanburg in Greenville, S.C. In addition, he was named to the Southern Conference Academic All-Conference team and the Southern Conference Academic Honor Roll.
“It was incredible,” he said. “It was incredible. It was very unique for me in a lot of ways. What a lot of people don’t know outside looking in is I was not an everyday player early on in the year. I actually didn’t see the field at all.
“I would pinch run in crucial situations. That was like my role. And then I got some pinch-hit opportunities and I capitalized on those pinch-hit opportunities.”
That’s when Manning’s fortunes changed as he persevered.
“The starting catcher got hurt and that moved some things around,” he said. “And I kept getting opportunities, kept capitalizing on opportunities. Next thing you know I was catching in some more games. And then I started DHing, and all of the sudden, probably halfway through the year, I was the everyday starting designated hitter and then I’d catch occasionally, also.”
