There have been some truly legendary coaches at Mercer County Community College over the years. Howie Landa in basketball; Butch Miller in baseball, Charlie Inverso in soccer, Mark Vecchiolla in tennis, Bill Drake in soccer and softball and Stan Dlugosz in tennis and soccer.
It’s time to add a new name to that distinguished list: Hamilton West graduate Ryan Zegarski.
Landa is probably the most well known of the Viking legends but, on Apr. 2, Zegarski did something even the U.S. Basketball Hall of Famer never did. When MCCC swept Genesee in a doubleheader that day it gave the head softball coach 500 career victories at the West Windsor school.
Only Miller has surpassed that total at Mercer, as Landa left with 495.
“I know 500 seems like a really good number,” Zegarski said. “But I’ve been at it a long time to get a chance to do it. I’ve coached a lot of good players, I had a lot of good assistant coaches to help me through the years. I’ve had a good support staff at the college to guide me and to put me in position to be successful to bring in the players I’m bringing in.”
Those who have worked with Zegarski feel he should take a little credit for himself.
Former Steinert pitching great Jackie Sasko transferred from C.W. Post to MCCC in Zegarski’s third year and the Vikes made it to the World Series.
“While my path wasn’t to play at MCCC, I found it to be my second home and enjoyed every single second of playing thanks to Coach Ryan,” Sasko said. “He helped me transition, find myself again as a student-athlete and made the MCCC team my family; with him and Coach Chris (Freihaut) being our leaders. His energy, enthusiasm and charisma made playing so much fun.
“He definitely had his hands full with our group! As a coach and a trainer now, I look back and appreciate all that Coach Ryan had to deal with. He did a tremendous job balancing personalities, positions, playing time, schedules and practices. Ryan made our team a family and because of that we landed ourselves a trip to the World Series.”
Now in his 18th season – a record for MCCC softball coaches – Zegarski has guided three teams to the NJCAA Division II World Series since taking over in 2005. Only two other softball teams went that far prior to his arrival.
What’s interesting is that he took the job with literally no softball experience. Zegarski was an All-County baseball performer at Hamilton and played on Dave Gallagher’s 2000 World Series team at Mercer. From there he went to Stockton, where he led the New Jersey Athletic Conference in hitting as a junior and earned all-NJAC honors.
He served as Chris “The Baron” Raba’s assistant for Hamilton boys basketball from 2003-2006 and helped the Hornets to the 2005-06 state title. Looking to become a college baseball coach, Zegarski approached John Simone about being an assistant, but the athletic director had other ideas.
“He goes, ‘How about coaching softball?’” Zegarski said. “I said ‘I don’t know anything about softball,’ and John said ‘Aww, you’ll be great at it. It’s a lot of the same principles, you’re dedicated, you’re enthusiastic.”
The 24-year-old wanted a chance to think it over and two days later he decided to give it a shot. The job description also included assistant athletic director; a position Zegarski still maintains.
He inherited a program that had become such a mess it dropped to club status (and went 4-11) in 2003 before going 11-17 as a varsity program in 2004. Zegarski was not hired in time to coach in the fall of ‘04, so his first opportunity to get out with the team was in the 2005 preseason.
Zegarski quickly worried he made a mistake.
“We got off to a very slow start and I’m saying ‘Oh my God, these girls don’t like me, I don’t know what I’m doing.’ Which I really didn’t,” he recalled. “We had played the toughest teams we would play all year and went 1-7 in our first four doubleheaders.”
Zegarski pleaded with his players to have patience. He insisted they were doing a good job and predicted things would get better. Then came a pleasant surprise.
“Two of the girls who were on the team the year before said ‘Coach don’t worry about it. You come every day and practice with us, that’s all we care about right now,’” Zegarski recalled. “Apparently whoever was there before, didn’t show up every day and canceled a lot. I came every day, showed them I cared about them. We did a lot of fundamental stuff, a lot of simple stuff and the kids got better.”
Mercer went 21-8 the rest of the way to finish 22-15 and reach the Region 19 final. It improved to 30-16 the following year and, when Sasko arrived, MCCC went 38-8 and made it to the World Series.
“Going into that year, I finally felt comfortable,” Zegarski said. “I felt like I belonged and the girls respected me for the most part, and trusted our staff. It took about three years for me to feel that way.”
Bringing Sasko on the team was a big help.
“Having a person as smart as her, and such a gamer and such a great athlete, made life so much easier on everybody,” Zegarski said. “She was like a coach on the field. She kind of told me what she wanted to do and I said ‘Hey, go for it, you’re the boss.’
“From time to time I’ll still reach out to her about players and I’ll pick her brain. There’s never a time where I don’t want some help. You never want to stop learning. She’s a very bright softball person.”
Sasko is one of numerous county players Zegarski has won with. While several MCCC programs have turned to recruiting around the state and around the world, Ryan has remained close to home.
He has tapped into Steinert’s talented program numerous times, and this year former Spartans include Julia Hannawacker, Heather Kerlin, Delaney Misier, Hailey Nardone and Bella Truelove. Also on the squad are Hamilton residents Mia Land, who went to Trenton Catholic, and Lizauris Alers from Mercer Vo-Tech.
It took a while, but Zegarski eventually developed a recruiting pipeline in Mercer, and the surrounding areas, as well as within the all-important travel community.
“I started going out to travel tournaments, introducing myself, handing out business cards and telling people I was the new assistant AD and softball coach,” he said. “Now people see me and they’re like my best friend. I know a lot of coaches well. They expect to see me out.
“There’s only a couple junior college coaches in the state you’ll see out on a weekend to weekend basis in the summertime. They know who they are and they’re the programs that are always successful. Just get out, show your face, talk up the program, talk up the school. I’m still out and about, but more than anything, word of mouth has been so big for us.”
Those words come from former players who pass praise for MCCC on to high school and travel coaches. Zegarski feels a big reason for that is “we pride ourselves on doing things right every day and treating people the right way. I want kids to know they’re treated well on and off the field and that they’ll always have what they need to succeed. That goes a long way.”
Zegarski’s winningest season was 2016 when Mercer went 41-9 but did not reach the World Series. The Vikings other trips came in 2010 when they went 32-14 and 2018 when they were 37-7-1. Mercer won one game in both the 2007 and 2018 series and was blanked in 2010.
“We’ve competed out there every time,” Zegarski said. “We haven’t embarrassed ourselves. We’ve been in every single game we played. When we go out there, we’re one player shy of really competing. Just one more player. They’ll hit one through nine, we’ll hit one through seven or one through eight.”
That’s one trademark of every Viking team – that they will compete. Former Steinert basketball/soccer standout Tom DeStefano is in his eighth year as one of Zegarski’s assistants, and he marvels at how Mercer always reaches or surpasses its potential.
“Ryan has been the constant professional when it comes to coaching, and a great person to learn from,” DeStefano said. “He is someone that does the right thing, day in and day out, and knows how to get the most out of the girls.
“Working with Ryan the last eight years has been a time that will go down as some of the most fun I’ve ever had on a sports field. Ryan is a great person, coach and an even better friend. I’m thankful I’ve been able to be along for this ride with him.”
Over the past 18 years, of course, Zegarski has looked for other jobs. He interviewed at Rider, Stockton and Georgian Court but couldn’t land those jobs for various reasons. While he admits he would have liked to have had a shot at a four-year school, he has no complaints whatsoever about remaining at Mercer.
“Coaching is coaching,” he said. “The competitor in me would have liked a chance to turn around those programs, but I’m still happy to be here.”
As of Apr. 18, Mercer was 18-6 and in the midst of its Region 19 schedule. That left Zegarski with a career record of 506-196-1. Miller is Mercer’s all-time leader in victories with 520 and Mercer had 19 regular-season games left barring rainouts.
It could be mind boggling for Zegarski to think he may be the winningest coach at a school with Mercer’s athletic history. But he doesn’t think that way. He feels every day is still a new challenge.
“I look back on that very first team, and there was some talent there, and I felt really bad,” Zegarski said. “I wished those girls got coached a lot better because I really didn’t know what I was doing. I still feel today I don’t know what I’m doing. I write the lineup in and hope I don’t screw things up.”
Fear not coach. You’ve done just the opposite.
Mercer County Community College softball coach Ryan Zegarski with Alisha Patel, left, and Sophia Beretski in 2018. Both players were 100+ hitters over their two years with the Vikings. Patel is an assistant coach this season, along with Tom DeStefano Jr.,
