JV
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Mendham Baseball Coaching Staff
Varsity
Erik Dial
Varsity Head Coach
Coach Dial joins the Mendham Minutemen after 3 years of being the Head Coach at Union Catholic High School. In his first year, Dial led UC to a 10-11 record, an improvement from an 8-16 record the year before along with earning their first county win since 2016 with a 10-0 shut out over Dayton. Under his leadership at UC, 9 players went on to play college baseball.
Prior to Union Catholic, Dial was the pitching coach at Ridge High School from 2006-2018 where he was a part of the Red Devil's improbable 2011 Somerset County Championship run. During that time, Dial provided guidance and instruction that helped numerous pitchers go on to play college baseball, most notably JB Kole, who was drafted in the 8th round of the 2014 MLB Amateur Draft.
As far as his playing career, Dial played football at Hofstra University for two years before transferring to Rutgers to play baseball - his true favorite sport. Dial pitched for Rutgers for two years before his career ended with an arm injury in the fall of 2004. Dial graduated from Ridge High School in 2000 after a stellar career as an All-State athlete in football, basketball and baseball. He was inducted into the Ridge High School Hall of Fame in 2011.
Coach Dial currently lives in Lebanon, NJ with his wife, Ally and two sons, Todd and Brendan. He looks forward to continuing the rich history of Mendham Baseball and developing long lasting relationships with the Mendham Baseball players and their families.
Phil D'Apolito
Varsity Assistant Coach
Coach D’Apolito joins the Minutemen as a varsity assistant coach after coaching under Coach Dial last season at Union Catholic, where he played his high school ball. Prior to coaching, Coach D’Apolito spent over eight years in sports publishing before switching career paths to become a teacher and a coach.
Coach D’Apolito brings a love of baseball and a wealth of professional experience to the Mendham baseball program. He is dedicated to helping each and every student athlete achieve their goals and reach their full potential, both on and off the field. Coach D’Apolito will be assisting the program in numerous capacities this year and looks forward to a successful season.
In May 2022, he expects to earn his Master of Arts in Teaching and NJ teacher certification after wrapping up a full year of student teaching high school English Language Arts.
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John Sharp
Varsity Assistant Coach
Junior Varsity
Mark Griff
JV Head Coach
Coach Griff joins the Mendham staff with over 15 years of coaching baseball experience from recreation, travel to high school. Coach Griff came from a sports family that has served as teachers, coaches and administrators in many high school districts. He attended Morris Knolls High School where he played soccer, basketball and baseball. Griff has been a multi-sport coach for many years, coaching Boys Basketball at Morris Catholic and Boys Soccer at Hanover Park. He is currently the Girls Varsity Assistant Soccer coach at Randolph High School as well as the Women's assistant basketball coach at County College of Morris.
Prior to teaching and coaching, Griff was a golf course Superintendent at numerous golf clubs around the state, however he retired from that profession to pursue his passion for teaching and coaching on a full-time basis. Griff will complete his master's in health and Physical Education in April of this year and has a bachelor's from Rutgers university in Plant and Turf Science as well as his teaching certificate in Biology.
Freshman
Ryan Miller
Freshman Head Coach
Coach Miller has been the freshman coach for the Minutemen since 2017. Prior to coaching at Mendham, Coach Miller was a varsity assistant coach for Mount Olive High School. During his time there, Mount Olive won a sectional and North championship, finishing in the top 20 at the conclusion of the 2014 season. Coach Miller also had a successful run as the junior varsity coach at Morris Catholic High School.
Coach Miller is currently a Health and Physical Education teacher in the Roxbury school district and holds a master's degree in Educational Administration.