JOHN KOVACH | Colleges Howland's Mann, Sharon's Raiti earn top PAC baseball honors

Several Youngstown-area collegiate baseball players captured the spotlight in the Presidents' Athletic Conference this season.
Sam Mann, freshman pitcher and first baseman for Washington & amp; Jefferson College from Howland High, became the PAC's top pitcher, leading W & amp;J to the PAC championship and a turnaround season and making the All-PAC first team.
Matt Raiti, a senior outfielder and pitcher for Bethany College from Sharon High, was PAC Player of the Year and selected to the All-PAC first team for the third straight year.
And Caleb Goist, a senior shortstop for Thiel College from Columbiana High, not only made the All-PAC first team, but was named to the College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District II College Division First Team, and set four career school records.
Goist carries a 3.813 grade-point average as a major in biology and pre-dentistry.
In addition, three others from Thiel gained All-PAC honors. Catcher Kinsey Henderson and outfielder Mark Nightingale, both sophomores from East Liverpool High, made the first team, while Brett Bell, a sophomore outfielder from Badger, earned second-team honors.
Freshmen lead turnabout
Mann, one of 25 freshmen on the W & amp;J team, helped the Presidents improve from a 6-26 record last year to 21-16 this season under second-year coach Jeff Mountain.
"This was the biggest turnaround in NCAA Division III in the nation this year," said Mann, who led the PAC in wins (7-1), ERA (1.45), least number of walks (7) and opponents' batting average (.206), and also batted .308.
Mann also led W & amp;J to wins in two of the three PAC championship tourney games, as the Presidents won the PAC title with a 3-0 tourney record after finishing in last place for five consecutive seasons.
Mann said his pitching strategy is to conceal the ball from batters.
"I hide the ball, and it makes it harder for the batter to pick up the kind of pitch you are going to throw," said Mann. "I throw all my pitches the same way, and my windup and motion naturally hide the ball."
Mann is the son of Debbie and Sam Mann and has a 3.87 GPA majoring in political science. He played for the BB Rooners traveling baseball team last summer, and was valedictorian of his Howland graduation class.
Experience helps Raiti
Raiti credits his success to "basically just maturing as a player and understanding the game more. I don't think my physical skills were any better, just the experience of playing in the college and summer games. We play in tough leagues in the summer and in college," said Raiti.
As a pitcher, Raiti tied for No. 1 in the PAC in wins (6-1 record) and ranked No. 3 in on-base percentage (.459) and No. 4 in batting average (.384).
The son of Darlene and Andrew Raiti, Matt already has graduated from Bethany with a 2.8 GPA in social work, and wants to get involved in law enforcement.
"I'd like to be a state trooper. I already began the application process to be a state trooper in Pennsylvania," said Raiti, who plays for Bud's Subs & amp; Tacos in the Youngstown Class AA League, and previously played in the Youngstown Class B League.
"I have been playing six years in both leagues," said Raiti, noting that Thiel teammates "Goist, Henderson and Nightingale also are on the Bud's team."
kovach@vindy.com