By Joseph Staszewski
As Steve Piorkowski’s cancer battle continues, his team is fighting for him on the softball diamond.
The Bayside coach’s long, golden-brown hair is now all gone. A New York Mets cap covered his bald head as he led his team to a 7–1 victory over rival and host Francis Lewis last Friday.
The 53-year-old Piorkowski was diagnosed with multiple myeloma two years ago and is still undergoing different chemotherapy treatments to try to keep it in remission. None has been able to stick for a long period of time. His body adapts to each treatment, but he has never been in any serious danger throughout the ongoing process.
“I head toward remission and then I relapse,” he said. “We change the chemo treatment around and the same things happen.”
Piorkowski says he feels good and is doing all right. His spirits always remain high. He has continued to coach despite all that is going on in his personal life, and Bayside is having its best season in recent years, thanks to a strong group of four-year starters.
The players are inspired by Piorkowski’s courage through this entire process. He continues to expect a high-level of play from his team and they want the best ending possible for their journey together — to win Piorkowski his first PSAL Class A title in his 22nd year on the bench.
“This season is dedicated to him,” senior pitcher Hedi Gomez said.
The Commodores, who should be a Top 3 seed, will be one of the favorites when the playoffs begin this week. They finished the league season 15-1, tied for first place with Construction in the Queens A division.
Bayside earned a 13-1 run-rule win over defending city champion Construction April 28. Bayside wants to be the one hoisting the trophy this season for its coach.
“Even with all he’s gone through in his life, he’s still had the same hard mentality of pushing us to the best of our ability,” senior catcher Taylor Moy said. “Hopefully, we win the championship.”
Piorkowski had a long fight just to get back to coaching after his initial diagnosis. In January 2012, he found out he had multiple myeloma, a cancer that attacked the bone marrow of his C6 vertebra. He was bound to a wheelchair before reconstructive neck surgery in April. Piorkowski returned to teaching and coaching at Bayside in September 2013.
And the journey continues. His brother is a 100 percent match as a stem cell donor. Piorkowski will likely undergo a transplant procedure this summer in hopes of putting his cancer into remission for a substantial about of time, which he said the treatment has been successful in doing for others.
Until then, he plans on enjoying every last minute of what could be a special season. Piorkowski calls this team as good as any he has ever coached, but they have their eyes on being called the best.
“They want it,” Piorkowski said. “They are practicing hard. They want to beat the other team.”
They want all of it for him.
