GREENFIELD — The Pioneer baseball team suffered its first loss of the season on Wednesday night, falling to Greenfield via a 6-2 score under the lights at Vets Field.
One story from the game didn’t necessarily lie within the scoreboard or with the student-athletes on the diamond. New Pioneer skipper Kevin Luippold had been waiting for that matchup for quite some time.
“When I got the job this was the game I circled on the calendar first,” Luippold said.
And for good reason.
From 2011-15, Luippold was a member of the baseball team at Greenfield High School where he played third base. In 2013, he helped the Green Wave win the program’s first Western Mass. championship in over 20 years.
“That was the highlight moment of my life and today was just as fun,” Luippold said on Wednesday.
After playing under the direction of longtime Greenfield coach Tom Suchanek, Luippold eventually found his way back to the Green Wave as a coach on Suchanek’s staff. On Wednesday, the veteran skipper finally saw what it was like to see Luippold without a Greenfield jersey.
“That was interesting,” Suchanek said after his team’s 6-2 win on Wednesday. “It was different. Can’t say I’ve done that too many times. I coached against Aaron Campbell when he was at Frontier and Tommy Conway when he was at Pioneer, but it’s not often.”
The experience was that much harder for Luippold, since he was playing on his old stomping grounds. He had to coach against his former coach and players while doing so on a field that he used to call home. He also coaches Greenfield Post 81’s American Legion Senior Division team in the summer — the club also plays its home games at Vets.
He spent years of his life putting his blood, sweat and tears into making sure that Greenfield won as many games as possible. His goal now is quite the opposite.
“It was weird sitting in this dugout here on the first-base line,” Luippold said. “I didn’t feel comfortable, honestly. It was different.”
Despite Wedensday’s loss, the atmosphere at Luippold’s return game was positive. He still enjoyed seeing his old coach and the players from Post 81. He shared laughs, jokes and smiles throughout the game with opposing players.
“They’re all great kids, everyone that played today, for Greenfield and our guys. At the end of the day it’s all smiles and in between the lines is just competitive nature,” Luippold said.
That competitive nature has certainly been there for the Panthers this year. In just his first season in charge of the program in Northfield, Luippold has led his team to a 8-1 record (after Thursday’s win over Mohawk Trail). Wednesday’s loss was the team’s first all season. He’s loving every minute of it.
“It’s a lot of fun. These kids, even though in the last inning when we’re down four runs (against Greenfield), they’re laughing and joking, but in a good way. They get up to the plate and they’re all business,” Luippold said. “But they make me laugh and they calm me down. It’s been fun and it’s been a blessing and it’s all thanks to our guys and our captains on the team.”
Although the outcome of the game wasn’t what he hoped for, Luippold said he was keeping his head high as he moves on with the remainder of the season.
“We’re going to learn from our mistakes and gameplan what we have to work on and how to improve when we see these guys again in the playoffs,” he offered.