Leah Mele joins the Adelphi University softball coaching staff as an assistant coach ahead of the 2027 season.
Mele comes to Garden City with several years of coaching experience alongside Adelphi head coach Jamie Apicella. Since August 2021, Mele has served as a coach and infield instructor with Team Beast Softball under Apicella. She also spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Mount Sinai High School from 2022-25, helping the program to continued success during her tenure.
Before beginning her coaching career, Mele put together an accomplished playing career on Long Island at both the high school and collegiate levels.
A four-year starter at LIU Post, Mele helped the Pioneers capture an East Coast Conference Championship in 2018 before winning the NCAA Division II East Region Championship and advancing to the NCAA Division II Softball Championship in 2019. That season, LIU Post finished with a 51-11 record, the best mark in program history.
Individually, Mele earned All-ECC First Team honors in 2018 and All-ECC Second Team recognition in 2019. Following her collegiate career, she continued playing at the semi-professional level with the American Softball Association in Mobile, Ala.
Prior to LIU Post, Mele was a standout three-sport athlete at Longwood High School, competing in softball, basketball and volleyball. A five-year starter on the varsity softball team, she was a four-time All-County selection and twice earned All-Long Island honors.
Mele's decorated high school career also included Player of the Year, All-State and All-East Region honors in 2013, when she helped Longwood capture a Suffolk County Championship. She earned another All-State selection in 2015 and was inducted into the Longwood High School Hall of Fame in 2023.
Mele earned her bachelor's degree in sociology from LIU Post in 2019 before receiving her Master of Social Work from Fordham University in 2021. She is also a Licensed Master Social Worker.
