Back before Sean S. Cunningham wanted to attempt to cash in on the Halloween slasher craze, he attempted to cash in on the sports team full of down-and-out pre-teens craze – al a The Bad News Bears – with Manny's Oprhans and then Here Come the Tigers.
Manny's Orphans is a tad better than Here Come the Tigers, in my opinion, but both movies failed to capture that fun that The Bad News Bears captured.
Manny's Orphans was made with a slightly lower budget than Friday the 13th, but had the same team of Cunningham (director), Victor Miller (writer), and Steve Miner (editor, assistant) and even some of cast members: Ari Lehman and Irwin Keyes.
Apparently Manny's Orphans was based on a short story by Miner.