Following three banner seasons at Vintage, Audrey Manley signs National Letter of Intent to continue softball journey at Sonoma State
By Kyle Foster
Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
It says a lot about a player when they have been one of the top in the league every season and that has led to team success.
This is exactly the case for Audrey Manley. In her time at Vintage, she has done and accomplished a lot. All of the hard work and dedication to her craft paid off when she signed a National Letter of Intent to play softball at Sonoma State University on November 13th.
When she gets to the Rohnert Park school, she will stick with her primary position of catcher. Manley has been catching her the whole time she’s played softball, so it’s become her favorite position because of all the action you see in a game.
“What I love about catching is being in the play every pitch, touching the ball (on every play), being a part of it, and then also just the relationship you get to have with the pitcher and the umpire,” Manley said of why she enjoys catching so much. “It sometimes will get you a call or two. Honestly, just my personality and me being outgoing, I think catchers a good spot for me, and I can see the field from like a whole different perspective than anybody else.”
However, she will be undeclared for a major her first two years. But she may eventually go down the business school path. Part of this is because it’s broad enough to where she could go in many different directions with it.
“I think business, just because I can, it’s a broad major and I could do so much with it,” Manley said as to what she would choose for a major after her first two years. “Right now, I am kind of thinking about event planning, maybe event coordinating for a winery or somewhere kind of close in town, something like that.”
In addition, Manley became a catcher because no one else wanted to play the position when she first started playing softball at Napa Junior Girls Softball, where her dad, Ben, was her first coach.
“My dad has been everything to me, like, through this process,” Manley said of the importance her family has played to get her to this point. “I mean, not just my dad, but both of my parents. You talk about parents and that all they do is show up. Like I’ve never been to a game and someone wasn’t there to support me. Either of them, they push me all the time to be better and hold me to a high standard. So then, then I want to hold myself to that same standard, and they’re just amazing.”
During Manley’s first three years with Vintage, she’s been very consistent on both sides of the ball. But maybe the most important thing she’s done is take command of a great pitching staff that has seen its changes over the years.
After all, when Manley first got to Vintage the pitching staff was filled with talent led by Shelby Morse and Raimy Gamsby. Now, she is paired with Angie Rubalcava and Malina Viruet who are different styles of pitchers, which has been something that Manley has been good at managing.
“Audrey is very much a professional in her position,” Vintage head coach Megan Lopez said. “She holds it down behind the plate, but she’s also a voice with our pitchers at practice, throwing bullpens, throwing spins, and long toss. Catcher is often a position that is overlooked, but she is a constant and definitely a staple for us behind the plate.”
To go along with the great management of the pitchers, she has been a wall. Over 73 games played, Manley has made just 7 errors. That means she’s got an incredible .989 fielding percentage. Last season, Manley was error-free, a testament to how good of a defender she is.
She was also a staple at the top of the lineup at that time. Over three seasons so far, Manley has a career batting average of .331 with an on-base percentage of .391, while slugging .394 with a .785 OPS. She also scored 57 runs and 43 RBIs at that time. But the thing that gives Manley a spot in the top third of the order is her bunting ability. It is key when the Crushers have been looking to score runs.
“The two spot is the number one place for Audrey, not only for her ability to bunt and sacrifice, but also her ability just to put line drives in the outfield, and then as soon as she’s on base, she has the speed to steal bases, take two bases at a time, and that is absolutely invaluable to our ability to score runs,” Lopez explained of why the two spot for Manley has worked so well.
All of this has also led Manley who has a 4.4 GPA and is in the top five percent of her class to be a three-time Vine Valley Athletic League first-team selection. She has also been a two-time VVAL champion and 2023 VVAL Tournament champion in that time. The Crushers have made the CIF North Coast Section playoffs all three seasons.
Manley has also never missed a summer of intense summer travel softball where she has played for Napa Junior Girls Softball, Napa Valley Express, All-American Sports Academy, and Firecracker Softball. With All-American Sports Academy and Firecracker softball, she was coached by Niki Bryson.
At the beginning of her softball journey, she was coached by Lopez when she was just 9 years old. This made high school a full-circle experience.
“I know coming into high school, we were unsure of who the coach was gonna be, and knowing that it was gonna be Megan, who I had previously played for when I was younger,” Manley added of knowing Lopez from a young age and how it made high school season easy. “She’s all about commitment. She’s 100% committed to the team all the time. She always is motivating girls like she just is trying to build a connection with the girls that’s just much deeper than softball. It’s much more than a game to her, and I think that’s what it’s made such an impact on me, that the game has given us so much.”
When Manley was young, Lopez also had an idea that she could be a pretty good player because the work ethic was already there.
“Oh my gosh, the growth is incredible,” she said. “She has been someone from a very young age that knew the value of work and her work ethic, and she definitely had to put in the time to get where she is today. And she’s always from the time she was nine years old, and since I’ve met her, been (a) very selfless player and very team-oriented, and that can’t be replicated.”
Over the last few years, the Seawolves have been the class of the California Collegiate Athletic Association. After all last season, they won the CCAA with a record of 30-18 and a 23-11 mark in the conference. They beat out Cal State San Marcos for the title by just a game. They failed to make the NCAA Division 2 tournament after being ousted in the conference tournament by Cal State Dominguez Hills.
“I’m super excited to be a part of it and just start like I have no idea what it’s gonna be like when I get there,” Manley said. “So I mean coming in with them winning is gonna be, I mean, big and just trying to earn myself a spot playing, and just making whole new connections with girls I’ve never played before, which is a lot different than Napa where I have these previous relationships. So now going there and meeting new girls and meeting new coaches, I’m just excited to build new relationships over there.”
Another factor that led Manley to choose Sonoma State was its proximity to home. Rohnert Park is an hour’s drive away at most, meaning her family can come to see her play, and she can still easily come home.
“Originally, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to stay so close to home, but after finding out more about Sonoma State and more about how amazing their program is, I decided that that’s just even more of a benefit, that my family can come and watch me whenever,” Manley explained of staying close to home. “I could still come home on a Friday night and watch my brother’s football games. Having them being able to support me like they have this entire time is super important to me.”
In addition to her family, Manley had numerous friends in attendance for the signing ceremony at the Vintage High Little Theatre. She will look to add to her accolades in the spring season.
