Lake City baseball standout Kyle Manzardo North Carolina-bound

Kyle Manzardo isn’t unlike many of his peers.

The Lake City senior-to-be wants to play baseball as long as he can.

To that end, Manzardo is headed to North Carolina this week to play in the National Team Identification Series (NTIS) for 17U teams on a combined Pacific Northwest and Northern California team.

Manzardo was selected to the team from a tryout in July at the University of Washington. He’ll play anywhere from corner infield and corner outfield to second base.

“It went pretty well,” Manzardo said of the tryout. “They judge you on fielding, hitting, glove work, arm strength, footwork, composure – everything really.”

Two other players, both from West Valley, returned from playing in North Carolina on other age-group teams last week. Hunter Tiffany was on the Northwest U16 team and Spencer Shipman was on the 15U team. There were also 14U, 13U and 11U teams but no area players were on those teams.

Manzardo spent the summer playing for the Spokane Expos 19U select team that played in a number of tournaments throughout the Northwest. He said he hit about .400 and led the team in doubles.

He gave Washington State University an oral commitment in June. He’s the second Lake City player to commit to the Cougars. Kodie Kolden, a middle infielder who will be a senior this fall, gave WSU a commitment last year.

Manzardo said he had an offer from Gonzaga and a lot of interest from other schools. He’s looking forward to playing in the Pacific-12 Conference.

“I like the coaching staff and the smaller town setting,” Manzardo said.