Piorkowski up and about at the softball team’s playoff game less than a month after surgery to implant a titanium cage in his neck. (Robert Cole)
Tara Bernstein wasn’t surprised when she saw her coach in the dugout for the first time all season. Steve Piorkowski, Bayside’s longtime softball head man, said from the beginning he’d be back for the playoffs – even when he was fighting through both cancer and a broken neck.
“I knew he’d be there soon to cheer us on,” Bernstein said.
And there Piorkowski was May 18, alongside his beloved players, coaching like he had never left for Bayside’s second-round PSAL playoff game against McKee/Staten Island Tech. He was standing and clapping less than a month after having a titanium cage surgically implanted in his neck.
“I never for one minute believed that anything other than this outcome would occur,” Piorkowski said.
Just eight weeks after that intrusive operation, the 20th-year coach will be on a diamond again Friday night. Piorkowski will be honored at Citi Field before the Mets play the Reds with a Spirit Award for his work as a coach, teacher and mentor for students at Bayside. He expects more than 235 friends, family and former players and students to be in attendance.
“I didn’t anticipate anything like that at all,” Piorkowski said of the recognition. “To be honored with something, it’s very flattering. That’s nice, but honestly having all the people come down, to me, that makes the whole thing.”
In late January, Piorkowski, 51, went to the doctor complaining of neck and shoulder pain. Days later, he was diagnosed with myeloma and a compression fracture and absorption of his C6 vertebra. The cancer was eating away at the bone marrow of his vertebra. Soon he wouldn’t even be able to hold his head up, confining him to a reclining wheelchair.
Meanwhile, the Bayside girls basketball team he also coaches was embarking on a magical run through the PSAL Class A playoffs as the No. 38 seed. The Commodores beat No. 27 Clara Barton, No. 6 Beacon, No. 11 Lafayatte and No. 3 Wings Academy, the defending champion, en route to the semifinals. The rallying cry was for Piorkowski.
“He’s our inspiration and we love him so much,” senior forward Ashley Mitchell said.
In late March, Piorkowski, who is now cancer free, had surgery to implant the cage. Within a few days he was sore, but standing up and walking around. He says he feels “great” now, relatively speaking. He does physical therapy three times a week and doctors have been impressed with his progress, he said.
“We celebrate the most simplest of things like going to lunch and sitting at a table,” said Piorkowski’s wife, Susan Hayes.
“I look back on how I was and I’m like wow,” Piorkowski added. “I was in really bad shape. It’s certainly a life lesson forever. … I guess I have a different outlook on life in general. It’s very valuable. We should appreciate it.”
His players certainly are grateful for him. That’s one of the reasons they’ll be showing up in droves at Citi Field.
“He’s taught us to never give up,” Bernstein said, “and fight on.”