Two months ago Reagan Manley had no idea where he was headed after finishing Grade 12 at Crestwood Secondary School. That all changed when he met a college coach at a baseball tournament in Long Island, N.Y.

Last week the 17-year-old Peterborough Baseball Association product signed a letter of intent to attend West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon, W.V. next year. A Laureate Scholar, Manley has qualified for academic funding.

The son of Reed and Nancy Manley, he was scouted while playing for the Ontario Terriers. A catcher and pitcher with the PBA Tigers up until bantam, he joined the Terriers three years ago and was converted to an infielder.

Ironically, after an intrasquad game with the West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats during a visit last month, Manley said the college's assistant coach, Gabe Grinder, asked him to resume catching. The NCAA Division II team competes in the Mountain East Conference.

It's all been a bit of a whirlwind for Manley.

“I didn't even really look into any schools until this kind of fell in front of me,” he sad.

Prior to meeting Grinder, Manley's biggest concern was finding a post-secondary school which offered biological sciences. It's a pre-requisite for dentistry school, the profession he hopes to pursue. West Virginia Wesleyan checked off that box and offered him an opportunity to continue playing baseball at a high level.

“I went down there for a visit and liked what I saw,” Manley said. “It looked like a good fit for me. The class sizes are small. There are only about 1,400 students there. The baseball looks very good. It just looked like somewhere I could thrive.”

He said he also had a good connection with Grinder in their talks.

“He liked the way I ran the bases and thought I had really good instincts,” Manley said.

“That showed me this coach was familiar with my game and picked out my strengths which really made me interested. I've talked to other college coaches who looked at me who never really pointed out my strengths I thought they should have seen but never did. Gabe saw them right away.”

The baseball facilities, including an indoor fieldhouse, were impressive and he said the players made him feel welcome.

“The baseball aspect is pretty much relentless. I can see that I'm going to improve as a player,” he said. “I'll get a lot of at-bats and good game reps.”

Manley was one of two Peterborough players on the Terriers U18 team this year along with pitcher Carter Seabrooke who is in Grade 10. A posting on the Terriers web site describes Manley as a valuable part of their roster since he joined the program in the fall of 2012.

“Manley is an outstanding athlete that plays multiple positions on the inner diamond flashing a slick glove and possessing an accurate arm,” the site states.

“Offensively Reagan can handle the bat and is tough to defend with his ability to bunt and hit the ball to all fields. Further, his speed on the bases causes havoc for opposing pitchers and catchers. These attributes were certainly a big part of Reagan being named MVP of his (high school) baseball team.”

In addition to fielding 21 NCAA teams, West Virginia Wesleyan has a strong academic reputation. Academically it has been named a College of Distinction and a Best Southeastern College by the Princeton Review for 11 straight years.

mike.davies@sunmedia.ca