Parent Testimonials

"Our son, Ryan Larkin, is so fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with Coach John Mangieri since June of 2014. We will be forever grateful to him and his recruiting service, Lucky 13 Baseball, for assisting him with finding a school in which he would have an opportunity to play baseball and receive an incredible education. Ryan graduated from high school in June of 2018, and with the support of Lucky 13, was fortunate enough to secure a roster spot at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh. Throughout Ryan’s time working with Coach John Mangieri, he played many roles in his life including: coach, teacher and mentor. He knew exactly how to keep him motivated, which resulted in Ryan always striving to achieve greatness. The Larkin family will always be grateful for the support and influence that he had in our son’s life. There is no doubt that his guidance and support played a huge role in shaping him into the fine young man he is today. It is with great pleasure and without hesitation, that we give Coach John Mangieri the highest recommendation to any family looking to secure his services for their child."

" We can’t thank Coach John Mangieri enough for what he has done for our son. His guidance, knowledge, experience, and positive coaching on and off the field have made Nicolas into a confident well developed baseball player. Nicolas joined his team in the fall of 2015, and Nicolas could not have asked for a better coach and team to have grown with to expand his potential in playing baseball. Nicolas has had the ability to have fun with the game while taking baseball to the next level. We put our trust in John to have him exposed to different Universities and Colleges and John did that and a lot more before Nicolas committed to the college of his choice to continue his academic and baseball career at Adelphi University. We trusted his process and are very grateful for everything John has done to get Nicolas to this point. We highly recommend John Mangieri and Lucky 13 for his dedication, knowledge, and expertise with the game of baseball."

"We are eternally grateful to John Mangieri for all he has done for our son Nico. We met John at a tournament in October 2014. Our son at that time was playing for another team and had aspirations of playing college level baseball. As soon as we met John, we knew he was the coach for us. He had all the qualities of a great coach and as we quickly learned he followed through on all his promises as a college recruiter.  Within weeks of meeting John, our son was verbally committed to Fordham University. We believe that without John’s help, the college recruiting process would not have been so effortless."

"After working with other organizations and pitching instructors with limited success. things began to snowball for my son William after meeting with John Mangieri.  My son was fed up with Long Island/Northeast baseball and was 100% going to school in Florida. John changed all that.  John was all about William.  At the first meeting John was more interested in his grades than his fastball and they connected instantly . He changed his mechanics, taught him a few new pitches, and taught him HOW to be pitcher, which led him to an All County season and conference MVP.  And he would always end the session with a lecture about keeping up his grades. The summer season with his LI Storm team was invaluable with William throwing in front of college coaches each game he threw.  But what amazed me most was the quality of the other players that John recruited making for an unforgettable season.  It convinced William to want to play either with or against his teammates and Florida came off the board.  Once William locked into his number one choice, St. Thomas Aquinas. John led the negotiation and walked us though the process and into a scholarship"  

"We would like to take this time to extend our heartfelt thanks to John Mangieri. Our son Sal only started playing for John in the summer of his junior year and the connection was instant. His dedication and enthusiasm on and off the field is in a league of its own.  His commitment to his players is 100 percent.  John worked very hard in helping us in the recruiting process and guided us throughout.  He was in constant contact with us and Sal throughout the journey.  With Johns guidance our son committed to NYU.  We highly recommend John and Lucky 13. Thank you" 

"We can't thank John Mangieri enough for helping our son Benjamin realize his dream of being a collegiate athlete. Benjamin has worked extremely hard over the years balancing sports and school work in an effort to make himself the best college prospect he could be. As a family we have done our part supporting his ambitions in every way possible. We entered our 17U baseball summer season confident Ben's dream would be realized, confident one of the colleges which had shown Ben interest would make him the offer we had all worked so hard for. Well the offer did not come. To his credit Benjamin was not deterred and asked if we could reach out to an old team mates coach, enter John Mangieri. John asked Benjamin down to the Storm Academy for a workout and we never looked back. Within hours of being a member of the Storm organization and utilizing his Lucky13 recruiting services, things were happening. John started reaching out to his vast network of coaches to see if opportunities were available. Before long a number of coaches were showing up to our games. This is in my opinion is where John is on his A game, he coaches his players through the showcase process.  John keeps his players focused and confident in their own abilities, reminding them to play to their strengths and not to press. Within a few short weeks John had coaches from quality programs at great schools interested. Within seven weeks of meeting John Mangieri, Benjamin was verbally committed to the New York Institute of Technology.  As a family we can't say enough wonderful things about Coach John Mangieri and his Lucky 13 Recruiting service. If your family is planning on traveling the long and hard road to college baseball, we suggest you ask John along for the ride." 

"We would like to express our gratitude to John Mangieri for all his support, hard work and dedication. John made the challenging college recruitment process effortless and uncomplicated for us. He guided us every step of the way. His expertise and commitment was invaluable and second to none. With Coach Mangieri’s resources and connections Joe was fortunate to have had opportunities beyond our expectations. The exposure he received by being involved with Lucky 13 is something we would not have accomplished on our own. John worked tirelessly with Joe, on and off the field, to find a college where he would have the opportunity to excel, not only athletically but academically as well. Our son is currently a freshman at Concordia College and is achieving his goal of playing baseball at the collegiate level. Coach Mangieri continues to be a motivating force and mentor to Joe as well as a role model and friend." 

"Every parent has an obligation to give their child every opportunity to succeed in life, in whatever they choose to do. We believe that John Mangieri has helped us to do that with our son's dream of playing college ball. A coach has to have a great knowledge as well as a love for the game. John has both, along with dedication and the ability to spot potential in a prospective athlete. His dedication is endless and he was available at all times to answer any questions or just give good advice. He instilled confidence and helped guide our son in the direction he wanted to take. With John's help, knowledge and guidance, our son signed with St.Thomas Aquinas College in his Junior year of high school. We highly recommend John and Lucky 13. Our sincere thanks!" 

"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." 

"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." 

"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." 

"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!" 

"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." 

"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." 

"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." 

"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."