Former EHS three-sport student-athlete Jeff Mejia takes over as the head baseball coach at Division 1 Merrimack College

By Joe McConnell

The City of Everett has had a long lineage of breeding athletic excellence over the years that has produced sports executives and head coaches throughout the professional and college ranks. The latest to achieve such success is Jeff Mejia, who earlier this week on June 29 was named the new Merrimack College baseball coach, succeeding Brian Murphy. Murphy resigned earlier in the month after a five-year run on the North Andover campus to pursue opportunities away from the sport.

His resignation opened the door for Mejia, a 1989 EHS graduate, to take that next step to Division 1 after compiling a 362-154 overall record at Northern Essex Community College, which also included 11 regional championships and 10 NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) World Series appearances since 2012 to go along with being selected the Northeast District Coach of the Year 10 times. He was also the school’s assistant athletic director. Before that, he was an assistant Suffolk University baseball coach for six years, where he honed his coaching skills under the direction of Cary McConnell, the school’s current Director of Athletics.

But Mejia’s love for sports was first nurtured in his hometown. As the youngest of eight children, Mejia lived at 46 Chelsea Street, and freely admits that the city “played a huge impact” in his life growing up, especially after his mom Edna passed away, when he was only in the fourth grade.

“Everett was a special place to grow up in.” said Mejia, who credits the likes of Paul Landry in the Everett Little League, Herbie Kramer in the Junior Babe Ruth League and Senior Babe Ruth Coach Tony Molle for developing his baseball skills on the earliest of levels. In 1989, Molle’s club won the state championship, with Jeff playing second base.

Like pretty much all Everett boys in any era, Mejia, who just turned 55 on May 7, also played football. His gridiron roots began with the Everett Eagles, where coaches Peter Mangraviti, Chuckie Leo and Mike Milo, among others, groomed him as a running back and safety for Coach James “Tank” Agnetta’s high school teams.

Mejia’s high school baseball coach was Ernie Ardolino, another local legend whom he admired a great deal. “(Ardolino) was a huge influence in my life,” he said. “He was tough, but fair, similar to my dad.”

Jeff’s dad, Ysabel, who grew up in western Pennsylvania, passed away in 1993. He worked at MIT as an ocean engineering technician, while also encouraging his youngest son to play three sports in high school. Besides football and baseball, he was also on the indoor track team, running in the 600.

“I find myself hearing my old (Everett) coaches (in my ears), when I talk to my team,” said Mejia. “Much of my coaching style is a lot like theirs, centered around a family atmosphere, and just like them, I’m firm, but fair with my players. I also believe in accountability, while at the same time adapting to them each year, (because they are all different).”

After graduating from Everett High, Mejia enlisted in the Army, where he served in Desert Storm. When his military commitment was up, he eventually moved back to Everett from California to marry the former Colleen Sullivan, a 1988 Pope John graduate, in 1997. They raised two children – Jeff, Jr. and Isabella – on B Street, before moving to North Reading. Dad had various sales jobs in the 1990s after graduating from Salem State with a degree in sports fitness and leisure study, which set the stage for the start of his coaching career in the new millennium.

But now he’s a Warrior, and that decision to apply for the job was not that difficult. “Having (a chance) to coach at the highest collegiate level (Division 1) is a dream come true for any coach,” said Mejia. “I’m super excited for this opportunity.”