Meet Baseball Coach of the Year: MLB pedigree built confidence in his high school players

Jeff Manto's belief quickly turned into reality.

In his second season as head coach, Manto guided Conwell-Egan to a 16-6 record (9-3 in the Philadelphia Catholic League) and the school's first-ever baseball victory in the PIAA state playoffs.

That's quite a transformation from a 1-13 mark (1-10 in the PCL) in 2022, which was the year before Manto's arrival. CEC went 6-13 (4-8 PCL) in his first season.

Manto did it by asking for more from the players and getting them to realize they could and would win, highlighted by the Class 4A first-round state playoff victory (10-4 over District 11 champion Bethlehem Catholic).

"I would say having a major leaguer believing in you makes you confident in yourself," said senior right fielder Dylan Held.

For the impressive turnaround at Conwell-Egan, Manto is the 2024 Courier Times/Intell Baseball Coach of the Year.

That Manto, a Bristol graduate and former Temple star, spent parts of nine seasons playing in the major leagues and was the hitting coach for MLB's Pirates and White Sox gave him lots of credibility with his team.

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"I think the most important thing he has done is give our team hope," said senior first baseman Zach Linn.

The 16 wins this spring were more than CEC's four previous seasons combined (11) and the nine 2024 Catholic League victories were more than the four previous seasons combined (seven) for District 12 champ Conwell-Egan.

"It was satisfying to watch the players react to the success they had in relation to the work they all put in," Manto said. "Observing the coaching staff and administration respond to a different style of teaching and effort needed by all to make this work was satisfying and I'm extremely thankful for everyone involved. ... We at CEC are definitely headed in the right direction."

The Eagles have Manto to thank for that.

Tom Moore: tmoore@couriertimes.com; @TomMoorePhilly is a sports columnist forPhillyBurbs.com. Support our journalism with a subscription.