By Aaron Geerts Express staff writer

For 58 years now, Manny Garcia — the living legend — has been coaching baseball. Although his 79th birthday is around the corner, age has done nothing to diminish his unparalleled coaching ability which is made all the more apparent by the Winters High School junior varsity baseball team’s undefeated league record.

The word ‘coaching,’ however, doesn’t quite encapsulate Garcia’s method of leadership. Rather, he helps cultivate respect for the game, inspires belief in his players who may be down on themselves and imparts to the young men under his tutelage valuable life lessons to take with them beyond the baseball field.

With 58 years of coaching under his belt, retiring had crossed his mind entering the 2023–24 season. That sentiment was knocked out of the park when young players, moving up to the junior varsity level, let him know how much they wanted him to be their coach. Blessed — or cursed — with a bleeding heart, Garcia agreed to come back and coach.

“We’re undefeated in league, but I don’t tell my team that, because I’m superstitious,” Garcia said talking about his team’s season so far. “Their chemistry is very good. They’re finally playing together, they do what I tell them and that’s what’s most important in the game.”

To Garcia, one of the standout moments of the WHS junior varsity baseball team’s stellar season came in a nonleague game against Woodland Christian. While the game was a 5–4 loss, Garcia recalls the efforts of sophomore Jordan Wojan, claiming he played in the outfield and was making catches like a major leaguer. From the catches to throws that kept runners from advanc-

KS Winters Photography/Courtesy photo ing the bases, Garcia raved at Wojan’s performance and also claimed varsity head coach, Austin Calvert will be quite pleased to have Wojan on his squad next year.

“I treat my players like men. I don’t disrespect any of them. If they get out of line, I take them to the side and tell them what they’re doing wrong. I respect the way they feel because they’re still kids, but you still got to push them a little bit to bring the real men out of