Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series
by Max Edelman
A new season for the Mepham Pirates brings a new head coach. Longtime assistant who spent time at both Calhoun and Bellmore, and teacher at Mepham High School Joe Ryan, steps into the role as head coach of the Pirates. As he begins to look forward to his future with Mepham, Ryan first looks back on his past coaching experience.
“I come from two really good programs.” Ryan said. “I was at Calhoun as the JV coach for five years and I learned a lot from those guys. We were able to have a really good run over those five years and make a few County Championships. Last year I was at Kennedy where I was able to coach with my really good friend Mike Gattus. And those players were awesome to me. When the Mepham job came open, I already taught at Mepham. The administration is great, the athletic coordinator is amazing and the kids are awesome at Mepham. So getting to work with these kids, and this group of really talented seniors, I was really lucky to get it.”
Echoing Ryan’s strong coaching ability, was current head coach at Bellmore JFK, Mike Gattus, who had nothing but phrase for his former assistant, and good friend.
“I have a great relationship with Coach Ryan going back to when he was a senior in high school in 2015.” Gattus said. “He brings a ton of enthusiasm and baseball experience to the table. He’s been a part of County Championship teams and many successful seasons. I’m very excited for him to have this opportunity to run his own program. It’s a loss for us, because of the great job he did with our team last year, but we couldn’t be more excited for him on earning this opportunity to lead Mepham Baseball.”
In terms of the team he is inheriting, most of Ryan’s experience with the Mepham Pirates baseball team is from both playing and coaching them. Despite that, Ryan has been impressed with what he has seen from his new team.
“When I was at Kennedy last year we had a chance to play them four times.” Ryan said. “They were a really really scrappy, tough, talented group. At Kennedy last year we had a really talented team, and Mepham gave us everything we can handle and they always gave us tough, competitive games.”
Bottom 3: Jaiden Zoller works a 1-2-3 third in relief for Ghost, sitting 80-82 MPH while topping out at 83.
B1 Ghost EO 0, Next Level 0 pic.twitter.com/V5oYnKDGJq
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 21, 2025
When it comes to this year’s team, at the top of the list of stars is Jaiden Zoller. He is committed to the University of New Haven to play Division-I baseball following the conclusion of the season. Last year, Zoller hit .474 with a 1.327 OPS. Zoller also pitched 25 innings, went 3-0 with a 1.96 ERA.
“He’s an absolute stud.” Ryan said. “He had a fantastic year for Mepham last year. He’s so easy to coach, he’s so easy to be around. He’s a good leader for our team. The way he plays the field, the way he swings the bat, and then he gets on the mound every three games and gives us the best chance to win because of how good he is.”
Also a senior, Ryan has high hopes for Charlie Milohnic as we enter this season. Milohnic had 27 at bats last year, batting .296 with a .920 OPS. In the field, Milohnic features as the team’s catcher. After this year, Milohnic will continue his college baseball career at Russell Sage.
“He’s a true leader of this team.” Ryan said. “In terms of everything he does behind the plate, calling games, swinging the bat and just being the leader of our program is really cool.”
Other players that Ryan mentioned include, Grady DeLuca, who hit .391 with a .995 OPS last year, collected 18 hits in 46 at bats for the Pirates last year in a season that saw him make an All-Conference team last season. Ryan also mentioned DeLuca’s double play partner Jimmy Lewis, who Ryan applauded for his incredible defense at shortstop. Ryan also mentioned Tommy Augugliaro and James Quilty as additional key players for the Pirates entering this season. Another key player is Jake Maxwell, who is primarily going to feature at first base for the Pirates, but could even see time on the mound.
Shortstop Jimmy Lewis (Mepham 2027) has been pretty impressive with his footwork and arm strength pic.twitter.com/Gj9nnmgj0G
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 10, 2024
One of the most difficult parts of coaching outside of Mepham would be having to teach his students during the day, and then compete against them after school. With his new opportunity at Mepham high school, Ryan is excited to both be a teacher, coach and mentor to his student athletes.
“It’s awesome.” Ryan said. “It’s definitely a weight off my shoulders. It was very stressful in a fun way. The kids were always great about it, but you never wanted to walk into school and teach these kids english and global history and then five hours later you have to coach against them to lose. But you have a great relationship with these kids, you love these kids and then you never want to see them fail. But now, we can do this together, especially with the senior class and being able to finish this ride with them is going to be really special. And now, walking around the hallways is going to feel a lot different during our season. Being a lot more involved with these kids officially on and off the field is huge for our program, but it is also going to be awesome for myself and especially our kids.”
The Mepham Pirates will open their season on March 21 against Malverne.
