Testimonials

"When my son Kevin was asked by John to play on his 18u storm baseball team there was an immediate connection. After watching Kevin play in a couple of games John approached Kevin and told him he wanted to represent him for college recruiting through his company Lucky 13 baseball LLC. I was working on the process myself using the knowledge I gained from the internet and talking to parents and was not having much success. I met with John and he described the process in a very upfront and honest way, no false expectations. We signed on with John and he immediately went to work and set up some visits and workouts at D2 schools. John always kept us updated on the status and interest after the workouts and continued to work with numerous other schools to make sure my son would be seen. My son received an offer from Post University and John continued to work to get the best possible financial package. John Mangeri's vast experience in baseball as a player and coach, and his expertise and connections in the recruiting process make him a valuable asset to any student athlete looking to play at the college level.John is not only a coach to his student athletes he is a teacher, friend and mentor. I will highly recommend John Mangeri to anybody that has a son that wants to play at the next level. " – Peter and Maryann Fearon (parents of Kevin Fearon; Freshman at Post University)

"We would like to take this opportunity to thank John Mangieri for all the guidance, knowledge, and support he has offered us in the past year. With John's help Remy was able to sign his NLI and fulfill his dream of playing baseball in college. When we first began this journey, we had no idea what would be involved in the college search process. Needless to say, we were completely overwhelmed. John provided us with all the information and resources necessary to make an educated decision on a great school for our son both academically and athletically. John gave us the tools needed to know about how to communicate with coaches, and the right questions to ask them. John has a ton of resources and a great network of college coaches that he was able to contact. Most importantly, John has become a mentor to our son. He was available to us at all hours to follow up with coaches, or to talk to Remy about keeping a positive attitude and not getting down on himself. We can honestly say that John is genuinely concerned with helping young baseball players succeed without looking at what is in it for him. John's knowledge of baseball and ability to teach are unmatched by any other pitching coach Remy has ever worked with. John was able to motivate Remy and develop his skills to get him to the next level. He has inspired Remy to work hard to achieve his goals; to compete and refuse failure despite his size. Remy will leave home in August and start his college days as a strong student athlete thanks to John Mangieri." – Mitra and Seth Janco (parents of Remy Janco; 2011 Duke University commitment)

"Having met John Mangieri when my son Justin was a junior was the best thing that could of happened to him. He helped Justin develop into the player he is today. Even though Justin is a catcher John worked very hard with him to develop his skills and improve his mechanics. The blocking drills the framing and best of all taught him how to call a game. We played for John for two years and enjoyed every minute of it. Johns love of the game and commitment to his players I have never seen in a coach. Should your child be lucky enough to play for John you will see what I mean. His knowledge and passion for the game is shown thru his players and the private lessons he gives. He doesn't go the extra inch for you he goes the extra mile. John also helped in the selection process when it came to picking a school and I'm very happy to say that Justin is attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as student and baseball player. I can think of nobody better qualified to help your child develop as a player or in the help you will need when it comes to the recruiting process." – Michael Lipstein (father of Justin Lipstein; 2010 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute commitment)

"The College Recruitment Process is a long journey with many ups and downs, many promises and few rewards. That process is made easy with John Mangieri. A few years ago Coach Mangieri met Kyle at a baseball camp and since then has gone above and beyond to help improve his pitching, and help with the college process. Coach Mangieri's knowledge of the game, along with his experience from his years playing, has helped round out Kyle into the player he is today. He has instilled confidence, knowledge of the game and competitiveness into Kyle, The college process is grueling and Coach Mangieri has made it easier. He has been there at all times of the day for Kyle with any help, phone calls, answers and advice. This Summer was the most important season for Kyle and Coach Mangieri had numerous college coaches and scouts at most, if not all games this year. There were usually several coaches there, opening many doors for the players that would normally not be opened, or take quite a bit of work!! Without John Mangieri, this college search would have taken alot more time and commitment away from our family. Kyle will be attending Dowling College in the Fall 2011, and John has worked almost as hard as Kyle to achieve that goal. Our sincere thanks go out to John for all the work, and belief in our son, that he has put in over the last few years." – Maureen and Joe DeMeo (parents of Kyle DeMeo; 2011 Dowling College commitment)

"When you first meet John Mangieri he makes you feel like you are part of his family. It's very important if your student athlete is going to consider being coached by some one that they are comfortable, confident and they have mutual work ethic. My son Ricky has the highest regard and respect for John Mangieri. John identifies athletes that have great potential if they are willing to make the investment. Johns demands as much from the athlete as the athlete expects from him. My son advised John he wanted to play college baseball at either the Div. I or Div. II level. I new the college recruitment process was going to involve a tremendous amount of time and commitment. When discussing with John the college recruit process he introduced us to "Lucky13". Right from the beginning we were interested in working directly with John. John was committed in contacting coaches of Ricky's interest. With all Johns contacts we were invited to junior invitational's at local DI colleges. We had an opportunity to visit Stony Brook and St. Johns. At the invitational Ricky had the opportunity to look at campuses, meet coaches and talk directly to student athletes. As high school season began many college coaches were showing interest in Ricky from all the phone calls John made on his behalf. It did not stop there as high school season ended and summer season began more and more coaches were contacted by John and came out to see Ricky play. I do admit it was stressful watching your son pitch while many coaches were behind the backstop with radar guns. John was determined right from the start to see my son Ricky succeed and achieve his goal. I am delighted to announce my son has accepted a Div II baseball scholarship at Adelphi University in Garden City, NY. My son and I are fortunate that a dear friend introduced us to John in the fall of 2009. I highly endorse any student athlete interested in playing college level baseball to become part of "Lucky 13" you will not be disappointed." – Patricia Brennan (mother of Ricky Van Allen III; 2011 Adelphi University commitment)

"Having John Mangieri as the pitching coach for my son Johnny's high school baseball team for his junior year was a double winner. Mangieri's knowledge of the game and experience as a professional ball player imparted instruction beyond the fundamentals. Coach Mangieri taught Johnny how to setup hitters in certain situations as a pitcher. He helped Johnny redefine his mechanics. Additionally, Mangieri's contacts within the sports community drew many college coaches to my son's games and afforded Johnny the luxury of exposure. John also gives outstanding private lessons and coached last summer's 17u Storm travel team where the further exposure to college recruiters resulted in Johnny signing early with a DI school, NYIT for Fall 2010." – John and Cheryl Duggan (parents of John Duggan; 2010 New York Tech commitment)

"Thank you for all your efforts for helping and guiding us through the difficult recruiting process towards Steven's acceptance to Post University in Waterbury Ct. Your personal touch and insight helped alleviate the stress involved in College search, and is a major reason why Steven received a generous athletic and academic scholarship from Post. Furthermore, your advice and experience as a pitching coach helped Steven make the necessary adjustments in his pitching mechanics that helped him become the pitcher he needed to be to pitch at the Division II level." – Michael Kimmelman (father of Steve Kimmelman; 2010 Post University commitment)

"College baseball recruiting could be a nightmare. If you are lucky enough to have a child that has the talent to play college baseball it could come as a surprise that getting signed or even looked at is quite the challenge. With many baseball organizations and lots of colleges, players can only attend so many games. Their commitment to their teams that play the same season as high school keeps them from seeing many games. My son Phil Loprete was lucky to meet John Mangieri. John showed us how to contact colleges, and he helped by getting coaches to games and had a nice showcase held at Farmingdale College. John, playing college ball and pro baseball, knows how it is to be recruited and drafted. So anyone that has a player looking to play college ball, I highly recommend John Mangieiri; he is a people person and cares about his players. He will go the extra mile to get it done. My son Phil Loprete received a full Baseball, Academic scholarship to CW Post. It was a tough decision and a crazy 2009 summer, but having John help us was the best thing ever. When in doubt, if you have lots of choices or no choices John will help you make the correct decision." – Phil and Deneille Loprete (parents of Phil Loprete; 2010 C.W. Post commitment)

"We met John Mangieri when our son was 13. John took an interest in our son, seeing a young, raw ball player. John started working with him through high school and we saw amazing growth and results. Stephen started out as a freshmen in high school with limited playing time. As John began to refine Stephen's skills, his coaches saw his hard work and dedication and rewarded him with more playing time. Under John's o, he arranged for Stephen to pitch in front of several college coaches throughout his junior year in high school. These opportunities opened many doors for our son who is now on an athletic scholarship at a Division One College. John Mangieri's experience as a professional ball player along with his dedication to see the best in young athletes is truly a gift. Without Lucky 13 our son may not have had the exposure needed to go on to play college ball. So many times college coaches are unaware of potential athletes. Lucky 13 was the best choice for our son." – Stephen and Deborah Cotov (parents of Stephen Cotov; Sophomore at New York Tech)

"John Mangieri helped my son as a pitching coach and college recruiter. He gave him pitching lessons that helped him with his pitching mechanics and overall conditioning. John also helped him receive an athletic scholarship to Iona College's Division 1 program. His professional teaching and advice helped him become a better ballplayer. John knows what he is talking about and is great at what he does!" – Luis Leon (father of Conan Leon; Sophomore at Iona)

"Our son has been taking pitching lessons with John Mangieri for over two years. John has a great deal of experience as a pitcher himself. His unlimited knowledge of the basics of pitching gave our son the advantage of improving his motion while increasing his speed and accuracy. John is an energetic, motivational coach and is very well liked and respected. We have recently used John's recruiting services as well because we have seen first hand the incredible reputation that he has with college coaches. We would highly recommend the use of John Mangieri's services." – Anthony and Rosemarie Susino (parents of John Susino; 2010 C.W. Post commitment)

"My son Sal went to John Mangieri junior year of high school, primarily as a catcher but wanted to focus on pitching. John worked with him and told me he could get a scholarship for college. Senior year John had my son going to school for workouts and had many colleges there to come see him and several other pitchers whom John helped. Most schools were impressed and made offers. John found and helped make a decision with my son on a school. Sal is my oldest son and I was not sure what to do; if my younger son wants to take the same path, I know exactly what to do: call John Mangieri." – Nancy and Sal Minichino (parents of Sal Minichino; Freshman at Concordia)

"John Mangieri has worked with our son Nicholas for over 3 years and during this time Nick went from a kid with a good arm to a recruited Division I pitching prospect. John has worked with Nick on improving his mechanics, resulting in increased velocity, better command and over all success as a pitcher. While he stresses proper mechanics, John has also focused on teaching Nick the total aspects of pitching such as the importance of preparation and conditioning as well as the mental game which all have helped Nick to maximize his performance. John's coaching, advice and ability to instill confidence in Nick have been vital in preparing him for pitching at the next level of Division I baseball. Using John's Lucky 13 Baseball recruiting service, Nick was able to get the exposure he needed. John's extensive contacts and reputation afforded Nick the opportunity to be seen by many of the schools he was interested in and resulted in several DI scholarship offers and ultimately resulted in Nick early signing with Division I Hofstra University. Needless to say, we highly respect and recommend John Mangieri and Lucky 13 Baseball Recruiting Service." – Ted and Rosemarie Kozlowski (parents of Nick Kozlowski; 2010 Hofstra commitment)

"Having John Mangieri as a pitching coach for my son, Steve Efkarpidis has just been a successful rode for him. Ever since my son has been going to John, he always comes home with positive thoughts about his baseball game getting better. Ever since my son was a little kid he had dreams about playing in the majors. Knowing John Mangieri is a professional baseball player, he knows the game and can help every student athlete that goes to him, with their mechanics and teaching kids about the game. He has helped Steve with his mechanics a lot, by staying on top of the ball and always finishing low. He told Steve 'if you stay up your ball will stay up in the zone; you finish low and get good extension your ball will stay low'. He also taught Steve how to analyze hitters, to see where they stand up on the box and to work from there. John has helped Steve get to the college level, now playing at Caldwell College Division 2. Any student athletes that work with John Mangieri, will be successful. Any student athletes that are looking to be successful with baseball, John Mangieri is the coach you want to go to." – Nick and Evie Efkarpidis (parents of Steve Efkarpidis; Freshman at Caldwell College)

"TJ Pecoraro in my opinion has been very lucky to have crossed paths with John Mangieri 4 years ago. As TJ's father and his first pitching coach I was very cautious about who I was going to turn TJ over to, to get him to the next level. After meeting John and closely watching the first couple of lessons, I knew we found the right guy. From the other testimonials on here you can see John knows what he is doing and gets results. But one thing you may not see is how he connects with his students on a level that is deeper than just teaching to pitch. His passion for what he does can be seen and heard as you watch from outside the cage. The confidence he has instilled in TJ has allowed him to pitch at some of the biggest stages in the country without fear and with tremendous results. Johns knowledge of preparation and conditioning has kept TJ at the top of his game. As John continues to work with TJ, I can sit back with the utmost confidence and respect to know TJ is in good hands for wherever baseball takes him and know that John will be there for him." – Tom Pecoraro (father of T.J. Pecoraro; 2010 Vanderbilt commitment)

"John was terrific in working with Christopher and bringing him to the next level. John provided him with showcase opportunities, which gave Christopher many choices in selecting a university to attend and play baseball. Christopher decided to sign early at Long Island University, where he received a substantial scholarship. From beginning to end, John helped with Christopher's recruitment process, which would have been a difficult operation with many hard decisions had we done it alone. LIU ended up being a perfect fit for Christopher, and we are ever so thankful to John for his excellent attitude, ability, knowledge, and dedication to his student-athletes." – Laura Franzese (mother of Chris Franzese; Freshman at Long Island University - Brooklyn)

"From meeting John Mangieri back in 2001 as a young high school player, he had the drive and determination in helping me with my career on getting to the next level. He was been the driving force to push me not only athletically but also academically. His knowledge for the game is second to none not only in the northeast but nationwide. Along with his love and passion for the game of baseball, Johns reputation among college coaches and professional scouts are at the highest level. On many occasions John has been the reason why I had multiple workouts with high end professional scouts. He was a tremendous work ethic for any individual he is working with. I owe many thanks to John Mangieri for where I am in this game today." – Joe Burke (professional baseball player; Somerset Patriots)