The Pilot Point Bearcats baseball team’s new coaching duo is pulling out all the stops to build a winning program, bringing out a special guest to speak to the team at practice Feb. 25.
Retired U.S. Army Ranger, Command Sargeant Major James Pippin, who was a member of Pilot Point coaching mentor Terry Wolf’s first baseball team, stopped by the field to share his experience and offer life lessons to the Bearcats’ ball club.
“He’s about as outstanding of a man as you’ll ever meet,” Wolf said. “His morals, ethics and values are beyond reproach. He brought the lessons he got from his coaches in high school and explained how important it is that they listen and apply what we’re trying to teach them.”
Pippin said he was flattered when Vernon and Wolf reached out to him and that he appreciated the opportunity to speak with the team.
“Terry Wolf is one of my mentors, in life, not just baseball,” he said. “For [him] to ask me to come talk to his kids was a huge honor. … What I hope they took away from what I said is that at that level baseball is about life, and the lessons their coaches are going to teach them go far beyond the diamond.”
Pippin used his time on the field and in the military to stress the importance of leading by example, playing for the person next to you and leaving it all on the field.
He even spread sand from the beaches in Normandy, France, where the Allied Troops began the liberation of France from Nazi occupation, on the pitcher’s mound to serve as a reminder that the Bearcats should always play for each other.
Bearcats’ catcher, Garrett Evans, said that Pippin’s words resonated strongly with him and his teammates.
“We all respect Mr. Pippin for what he’s done for our country, and he brought a lot of inspiration to us,” he said. “… I just hope that we can all play together as a team, have good body language and all come together and win some more ball games.”
Vernon and Wolf’s strategy already appears to be paying off, with the Bearcats earning their first win of the season, 15-3, against the Village Tech Viper Squid on Saturday.
Pilot Point head baseball coach Tyler Vernon said he hoped the Bearcats listened closely to what Mr. Pippin had to say.
“Mr. Pippin came out to talk to the boys about playing as a team, playing without fear and going out there and having fun,” head baseball coach Tyler Vernon said. “… We've been struggling with that as a team. We’ve been playing with the feeling that we have to get the job done individually, but this is a team sport, and I hope [Mr. Pippin] helped bring that to our attention. Ultimately, I hope they learn they don’t have to put pressure on themselves. They have eight guys behind them that are going to help.”
