By Michael Malaszczyk
TYLER O’NEILL WITH A 2-STRIKE GAME-TYING GRAND SLAM IN THE FIFTH pic.twitter.com/zkj9uRMu52
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 14, 2021
It would be difficult to find someone with a deeper knowledge of the game of baseball than Eric Passman.
Coach Eric Passman of Mepham has been coaching baseball for fifty years and has no intentions of stopping anytime soon. He has been coaching at Mepham since 2017, and looks forward to Mepham’s 2022 baseball season. Passman was happy to share his thoughts about both last season and this one.
“Last season was excellent,” said Passman. “And I can’t say I was happy with how it ended – we were one ground ball away from going to the county finals. And we played a tough game, tough three game series with Calhoun, we went down to the third game in all extra innings. They got the better of that, but I was very happy with the season overall.”
Mepham’s season really came down to the wire against Calhoun, and there is no shame in making it as far as Mepham did. “Ground ball losses” happen at every level of the sport; look at the Boston Red Sox’s 1986 World Series loss. Considering this was Mepham’s first time playing post-coronavirus, their 2021 season was very impressive.
Mepham saw two great players graduate in 2021: Tyler O’Neill and Billy Kender. Coach Passman called them both “irreplaceable”.
According to Passman, as of right now it’s looking like Mepham’s 2022 team will see lots of returning players. “We haven’t had tryouts yet, so I can’t say for sure,” said Passman. “But the way it’s looking now is: we’re gonna have quite a few juniors with a few seniors sprinkled in.”
In terms of players to look out for at Mepham, Coach Passman was quick to name pitcher Kyle Knowles (‘23), pitcher Nick Walker (‘23), catcher Jack Hellerer (‘22), Aidan Amato (‘22), pitcher Leo Asta (‘22), and pitcher/outfielder Charlie Leo (‘23).
Passman took special note of catcher/infielder Tommy Coyne (‘23), and expects Coyne to really come into his own this season. \
Of the seniors, Aidan Amato is committed to SUNY Farmingdale, and Jack Hellerer is committed to Dominican College.
When it comes to the strength of his team, Passman feels that his players are very well-rounded and with starting positions to be determined, the possibilities are endless. “We have a lot of fun competition for position players,” said Passman.
To pin down one strength he feels certain about at the moment, Passman continued “All the kids last year who will be in competition for field positions showed pretty good batting skills. I think we’re going to be a pretty good hitting team.”
Regardless of what the field alignment is, look out for Mepham at bat this year.
Coach Passman was eager to talk about what he finds to be the most important element of baseball: the relationships that come out of it.
“Well, I’ve been coaching for fifty years,” said Passman. “And baseball has absolutely made my life so much better with the relationships. Not the wins, not the hits, not the home runs, not the championships, not the plaques and all that stuff. Just the relationships over a half century that I’ve made with the kids. I go to their weddings, I go to their kids’ christenings. I keep in contact with a lot of former players, and it’s amazing. Some of them are 45-50 years old.”
Related to that fifty years of experience, Coach Passman had a funny tidbit to share that happened many years ago. From this story, Passman learned to trust his own instincts as a coach.
“This had to be 40 years ago. I went out to my pitcher’s mound and I said ‘look , I gotta take you out of the game.’ He says ‘Coach, I can get this guy out, just look at them! I can get them!’ So I gave him a chance, I was younger, I was inexperienced as a coach. Next thing you know this guy hits a home run so far so deep, we lose the game. I said to my pitcher ‘Don’t worry about it, it happens. He says ‘that was your fault.’ I go ‘How’s it my fault?’ He said ‘you knew I suck, you should’ve pulled me out!’ How funny is that?”
If you’ve ever underestimated the importance of a coach’s judgment, Coach Passman’s story from his early days should change your mind.
Coach Passman most looks forward to facing MacArthur this year.
“They are a fantastic team,” said Passman. “We are district rivals, but very friendly. I’m close with their coaching staff and they have a great program over there. It’s always fun and challenging to play against MacArthur.”
After having a great season that ended in a very close loss, and with a longtime veteran of the game as their coach, Mepham should have a great chance at winning the County Championship this year.
Their conference will consist of MacArthur, Long Beach, Great Neck South, New Hyde Park, Great Neck North and the reigning conference champs, Garden City.
Mepham’s opening day is March 28th. They will be playing against Garden City.
