On Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022, North Penn senior Justin Egner was recognized for committing to continue his baseball career at Jefferson University.
Justin Egner – Thomas Jefferson University (Baseball)
Major: Exercise Science
Final list of schools: Jefferson, several PSAC schools
Reasons for choosing Jefferson: “I chose this school because from the second I stepped on the campus, I just fell in love with it, and it felt like the right place for me. I was really considering other PSAC schools, but my needs did not really fit theirs, so Jefferson came out on top.”
What was the progression that led you to competing in baseball at the collegiate level? “It’s really been a dream for me since the day I started playing the sport. When that sophomore year hit, I really started thinking about the prospects.”
Coach Kevin Manero says: “One of the things that’s unique about this group of seniors is that while they didn’t miss any of their 10th and 11th grade seasons because of COVID, what they did have was a very challenging recruiting process because of it. This is the class that’s feeling the ripple effect of COVID more than anybody, but for Justin Egner, COVID is the best thing that ever happened. I don’t say that lightly. In Justin’s sophomore year, the 2021 season, one of our players came down with COVID, and Justin was his backup at the time, so a little less than halfway through the season, a young sophomore who was learning on the job 
as backup third baseman got the opportunity to step into the starting lineup and take over as the starting third baseman while that player was on the shelf. He made such an immediate impact that we decided he had to stay in the lineup for the rest of the year. As a result, he ended up with about 60 plate appearances as a 10th grader, which is very rare for us at the varsity level simply because of the size of our school. Over the course of his first two years, he had a .336 career batting average in 140 career plate appearances and is setting himself up for a big senior year.
“Beyond just numbers and statistics, Justin really defines what it means to be part of a team in many ways. One of which is that as a young player coming up, he had one of the best leaders ahead of him in his position he could ever hope for. RJ Agriss was the guy ahead of him at the time, and RJ was as good of a leader and mentor as an upperclassman could ever be for somebody. When I see a guy like RJ mentor players underneath him and then two years later, that player is sitting here at signing day, it really speaks to the value of team, teammates and chemistry, and I know that Justin is going to be exactly that this year for some of the younger guys that are coming behind him.
“The other thing about Justin is he is very, very competitive. There’s a leading sports psychologist by the name of Ken Ravizza. He has written several books about sports psychology where he talks about how players have to overcome internal difficulties, but the second version of the book he wrote focused more on tapping into what it takes for players to want to win and be competitive because he saw a lot of kids training who – yes, they had difficulties, but they didn’t have that drive, they didn’t have that extra gear. So, he wrote a second book on how to connect with that. Justin has no problem finding that extra gear. He wants as much as anybody to win at all costs, not for himself but for the name on the front of his jersey. Justin is going to do very for Jefferson because every college coach wants players who come in and they want to win. Winning is not everything, but having that desire, that extra gear to do so is going to take him a long way. The only challenge is reeling that in and containing it when needed, but I’d rather have to reel a player in than shake them up.
“Justin is a product of our community baseball programs. He grew up playing in the Hatfield/Towamencin baseball organization. He follows in the footsteps of his older brother Cole, who I just learned in a public speaking speech last week – Cole has taught him a whole lot about what it means to be a teammate and an athlete and a competitor, and all those lessons will carry with Justin as he goes to Jefferson where he will join former North Penn Knight Chris McLean, who is now an upperclassman third baseman there. Much like Justin in high school when he played behind a senior, he is now going to Jefferson where he will be behind another former North Penn player probably at the same position where he will learn from him how to become the next starter for the Jefferson University Rams.”
About Justin:
Favorite food: Mac n’ Cheese
Favorite movie: Sandlot
Favorite music/artist: Rap/Sleepy Hallow
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