Jhonneris Mendez
Jhonneris Mendez
Title: Assistant Baseball Coach
Phone: 617-573-8379
Email: jrmendez@suffolk.edu

Suffolk alum and former Rams baseball standout Jhonneris Mendez rejoined the University’s athletic department in the fall of 2015. He was on Anthony Del Prete's staff for three seasons before taking his talents to Curry in 2018. Mendez is back on Suffolk's sidelines in 2022 for his fourth season as an assistant coach. 

He earned a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Sociology, Crime and Justice from Suffolk in May 2014 and graduated in December 2016 with a Masters of Education. During his graduate coursework, Mendez worked as a graduate assistant in the Athletics Department as the Director of Intramural. 

In 2018, Mendez’ third season as an assistant coach, Suffolk garnered GNAC glory once again, taking home the post season title for the fourth time in as many seasons and eighth time overall. Along the way to the Rams’ fourth consecutive NCAA DIII regional appearance, he aided in the program’s 1000th victory, an 11-2 nightcap win at Norwich April 21, and coached 11 student-athletes to 16 all-league accolades headlined by GNAC Player of the Year Brady Chant, who also picked up all-region honors by D3Baseball.com and the NEIBA in conjunction with ABCA/Rawlings.

Off the diamond, Suffolk was recognized for its success in the classroom with the ABCA Team Academic Award for the second straight season as the Rams combined for a 3.68 GPA, the highest among the University’s Athletic Department’s 18 active varsity teams. Individually, Chant became the second Ram in as many years to be awarded for both this academic and athletic success with aGoogle Cloud Academic All-District nod from CoSIDA.

Mendez aided in Suffolk to unparalleled success in his second season as assistant coach in 2017; a GNAC threepeat and a historical NCAA run. In the process the Rams, who put together a league ledger of 12-2 and the season 28-17 overall, finished as the NCAA Division III Statistical Champion in triples (32) and triples per game (0.71). Brady Chant, the program's ninth overall All-American after garnering a D3Baseball.com Honorable Mention nod, led the triples charge. The centerfield finished atop the nation in triples (12) and triples per game (0.27) as a junior, the first Ram to lead the country over the course of the season in both categories.  

Chant added two first-team all-region accolades to his resume along with senior catcher Matt Brenner, while senior hurler Chuck Gibson, who picked up both GNAC Pitcher of the Year and GNAC Tournament MVP, was a first-team honoree by the NEIBA in conjunction with ABCA/Rawlings and earned a spot on D3Baseball.com's all-region second squad. Overall, Mendez helped 10 individuals combine for 12 all-conference honors.  

In his first year as an assistant coach with the Rams, Mendez helped the blue–and–gold to the program’s first–ever back–to–back GNAC title and sixth trip to the NCAA Tournament thanks a 5–4, 10–inning win over St. Joseph’s (Maine) in the championship. The Rams garnered the second–most wins in program history at 33–13 (11–3 GNAC), while also leading the conference in every statistical cateogry offensively, while posting a total of 345 runs scored, the highest among New England squads. On the bump, Suffolk’s staff posted a league–best ERA of 3.38, while the team set new program marks in fielding percentage (.963) and stolen bases (95). 

Mendez helped four student-athletes bring home All-Region honors by the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA): Brady ChantJake FrascaDrew Carter and Kevin Sinatra, while Suffolk also took home 17 postseason accolades by the GNAC including Pitcher of the Year (Worth Walrod) and Rookie of the Year (Frasca). 

During Suffolk's offseason, Mendez served on the staff of the Seacoast Mavericks of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) as assistant coach in 2016. After helping guide the Mavericks to the winningest season in the team's history with a 36-18 ledger in 2016, Mendez took over the reigns as the team's Manager in 2017. During that stint, the first-year head coach worked as an assistant on the FCBL's hand-picked all-star team, which faced Team USA Collegiate National Team. A regular in summer coaching circles, Mendez took his coaching talents to the Martha Vineyard Sharks for the 2018 FCBL season. 

Mendez brings a great deal of experience in athletics on both the coaching and administrative levels as he worked in an intern role as the assistant to the commissioner of The Great Northeast Athletic Conference under Joe Walsh for the 2015-16 academic year. 

Prior to returning to Beacon Hill, Mendez served as the Assistant Baseball Coach at Northern Essex Community College for the 2014-15 season and also spent time in 2013 as a teacher’s assistant in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Science of Baseball program where he helped students become actively involved in their own learning while focusing on the learning process by comparing the acquisition of baseball skills with academic skills and development.

Mendez spent four years on the Suffolk baseball team during his undergraduate career, playing third base, right field and pitch. He earned first-team all-conference honors in the GNAC in 2012, Division III Baseball National Player of the Week during the 2012 season, and Suffolk University Athlete of the Year in 2013. He was also a member of the Rams men’s basketball team during the 2012-2013 season and served on the NCAA National Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) from January 2013 to May 2014.