Cedarville University Yellow Jackets

Mike Manes (pronounced MAN-us) has been the head baseball coach at Cedarville University since 2008 and is the winningest coach in the program’s history.

The top seven seasons the Yellow Jackets have ever had in terms of total victories all belong to Manes’ teams to go along with six trips to the NCCAA National Tournament and four NCCAA Midwest Region banners.

Three of Manes’ players have advanced to the professional ranks including right-handed pitcher David Ledbetter, who was a third round choice by the Texas Rangers and 99th pick overall in the 2013 MLB First-Year Player Draft.

Relief pitcher and twin brother, Ryan Ledbetter, was drafted by the Rangers in that same year in the 19th round.
 

Cedarville Career Coaching Record: Overall Conference           W    L  T   Pct     W   L    Pct ------------------------------------------ 2008     23   33     .411     8  18   .308 2009     32   28     .533    11  19   .367 2010     28   27     .509     6  18   .250 2011     33   18  2  .642    10  10   .500 2012     38   13     .745     0   0   .000 2013     29   19     .604     6   6   .500 2014 31 27 .534 11 13 .458 2015     21   26     .447    11  13   .458 2016     18   27     .400    11  11   .500 2017     17   30     .362     8  14   .364 2018      9   29     .237     4  21   .160 2019     14   32     .304     8  20   .286 2020      7    5     .583     0   0   .000 2021     17   23     .425    14  16   .467 --------------------------------------------------- Totals  317  337  2  .485   108 179   .376 NCCAA Midwest Region Champions - 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013 NCCAA National Tournament - 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award - 2020

Cedarville Honor Roll: NCCAA Midwest Region Coach of the Year - 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013 1 CCA NCAA Division II All-American 18 NCCAA All-Americans 2 NCCAA Burbridge Unlimited Potential Player of the Year 6 NCCAA National All-Tournament Team players 6 NAIA Scholar-Athletes 14 NCCAA Scholar-Athletes 2 CoSIDA Academic All-District players 3 NCCAA Midwest Region Players of the Year 1 NCCAA Midwest Region Pitcher of the Year 48 All-NCCAA Midwest Region players 4 ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Division II Midwest Region players 2 CCA NCAA Division II Midwest Region players 1 Conference Player of the Year 1 Conference Pitcher of the Year 1 Conference Freshman of the Year 1 G-MAC Elite 23 Award player 33 All-Conference players 99 All-Conference Academic Team players 2 All-Conference NAIA Rawlings Gold Glove Team players

Manes came to the Yellow Jackets following a four-year stay as head coach at Trinity International University near Chicago. He was able to turn the TIU program around after inheriting a team that won just four games in his first season in 2004 and the school had never qualified for the conference tournament.

Manes then guided the Trojans to 85 victories over the next three seasons by winning 25, 28, and 32 games, respectively, which set school records for the most victories in a season each time. The 2006 squad put together TIU's first-ever winning season and the 2007 team finished 32-22.

In his short tenure, Manes guided the Trojans to their first-ever conference tournament appearance, two NCCAA North Central Region championships, and TIU played in the NCCAA National Tournament in each of his last three seasons. He was tabbed the 2005 NCCAA North Central Region Coach of the Year.

The Nebraska native previously founded and coached the Lincoln Crusaders which is an American Legion baseball club. In his 11 years at the helm, the team made nine trips to the state tournament winning one championship and finishing as the runner-up on two other occasions.

Manes has been actively involved in baseball administration. He has previously served as the NCCAA baseball chair as well as the chair of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.

Manes is a 1989 graduate of Liberty University and he earned a master’s degree in 2005 from Almeda University. Mike and his wife, Connie, reside in Springfield and have four married children and 12 grandchildren.