National Scouting Report is dedicated to finding scholarship opportunities for athletes who possess the talent, desire, and motivation to compete at the collegiate level. We’ve helped connect thousands of athletes with their perfect college.
If you are ready to take your recruiting to the next level, click the Get Scouted button below to be evaluated by an NSR College Scout.
Get Scouted Scouting Careers
The acorn didn’t drop far from the tree when it came to Ali Manns Black. In fact, smarts run deep in the Manns family.
Ali’s dad, Dan, earned his degree in Meteorology from Penn State and went on to work for the National Weather Service and later at the National Climatic Center for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA). So did her stepmother, Kathy. Her mother, MaryLynn, is a professor in the University of North Carolina system at UNC-Asheville. Excelling is a family habit.
Quite by accident, I first noticed Ali as a junior softball pitcher at North Buncombe High School in Weaverville, N.C., while scouting the shortstop from a rival school. Ali’s name was familiar to me because it kept coming up in the sports section of our regional newspaper, the Asheville Citizen-Times. Still, it was the shortstop I was there to evaluate and she did not disappoint. But I found myself taking notes on Ali, too.
Ali’s team had a long history of mediocrity, but the Blackhawks were suddenly emerging as a force in the 3A-4A Mountain Athletic Conference. Competition was stiff that year, but Ali and her teammates, to the surprise of many, were knocking off formidable opponents one after another.
There was nothing apparently special about Ali that day. Yet, batters from the visiting team, including the shortstop I was there to watch, kept getting out. Lots of weak ground balls to the infield, the occasional short fly ball to outfielders and once in a while a girl would strikeout, usually looking or going after a pitch just off the plate. Ali was as close to Greg Maddux throwing a softball that I had yet to see. There would be others, granted, but she was the first. Efficient and effective were the words I recall jotting down to describe her at game’s end.
As an NSR scout, I was there to see the shortstop and, because she was a legitimate college prospect in my view, she was my immediate priority. We spoke following the game, I met with her and her parents the next night, and they enrolled with me on the spot.
The next day, promptly at 4 p.m., I was sitting behind the backstop at Ali’s game. She had jumped to the top of my scouting list and I wanted to fully evaluate her. Once again she was terrific. Prior to the game, as usual, I spoke to her coach. He could not say enough wonderful things about her: great kid, hard worker, superb attitude and teammate, brilliant student. But did she want to play college softball? That was the question which needed to be answered and only she could provide that answer.
This particular game was different from the one two days earlier. Game One had been against what had been a power-hitting team. This time, the squad played small ball, so it was noticeable that Ali’s approach was markedly different. First, she called her own pitches. Not the coach, nor the catcher. She was in control. Instead of depending mostly on movement pitches, she was throwing far more inside or high fastballs, making it harder for the batters to bunt or slap. She had them eating out of her hand, literally. Another gem. Another win. I was impressed, to say the least. It was obvious, at least to me, that I was observing a very smart young woman.
Afterward I approached Ali while she was talking to her parents. Her stepmother wasn’t at the game. The coach had mentioned to her that I was a college scout from National Scouting Report. He had done this before the game. So, another mark in her favor. Most athletes that know beforehand that I’m there to evaluate them show some signs of nervousness. Not Ali. She was cool and unaffected, and barely 17.
Three days later I enrolled her with NSR, but there was an issue which was to her non-negotiable – her major. She intended to pursue chemistry. That’s not something we encounter every day with most athletes, but Ali was not most athletes.
The following spring as a senior, she was nearly unhittable. Ali compiled a 16-3 record and 0.43 earned run average. She pitched 12 games in which she allowed three hits or less, including two no-hitters. She also posted a .427 batting average. An all-state selection, she was named the Mountain Athletic 3-A Conference’s Player of the Year.
During the summer between her junior year and senior year, I was able to get a number of schools interested in her, and arranged for her to make several unofficial campus visits to NCAA D-II and D-III schools. The ones she was intently interested in were Pfeiffer University in Meisenheimer, N.C., and Lynchburg College in Lynchburg, Va. Pfeiffer is a D-II school. Lynchburg, D-III.
On Day One of the regular signing period of Ali’s senior year, Pfeiffer sent her an offer and National Letter of Intent. It was accompanied by a hefty scholarship from the college’s Chemistry department. Even so, Ali was more drawn to Lynchburg. Even though Lynchburg was unable to offer her athletic money as a D-III school, Ali chose to go there because she had a plan. It turned out to be a great decision and fit for her. As is mandated by Division III member institutions, academics must supersede athletics, and Ali took full advantage of that advantage.
Over the following four years at Lynchburg, Ali contributed to a highly successful softball team, helping it win a conference and regional championship. She wasn’t a star, and wasn’t their ace in the circle, but Ali filled in admirably and was, according to her coach, an invaluable member of the Hornets.
So how does this story end? Ali graduated with honors from Lynchburg, majoring in math, as it turned out. She was then accepted to North Carolina State and earned her Master’s degree in Statistics. Today, Ali lives with her husband, AJ, and 1-year-old daughter in Washington, D.C., and is employed as a Mathematical Statistician for the Unites States Agricultural Department. She and her family continue to be my friends.
The lesson? Ali Manns Black was special, yes. Even exceptional in many ways. But what I learned most from working with Ali is that there is a place for every high school athlete who isn’t prepared to give up his or her competitive spirit, even the brilliant ones.
National Scouting Report is dedicated to finding scholarship opportunities for athletes who possess the talent, desire, and motivation to compete at the collegiate level. We’ve helped connect thousands of athletes with their perfect college.