WORCESTER — How do you go undefeated and win a state championship? It starts with culture, which was evident watching the Pioneer baseball dugout late on Saturday. 

Panther sophomore Jackson Glazier came on in relief in the fifth inning of the MIAA Division 5 championship game against Boston English and looked like the ace he has been all year in the fifth and sixth. He didn’t allow a hit and allowed just one runner to get on after hitting a batter, keeping the Eagles at one run. 

After Pioneer put two on the board in the bottom of the sixth, it found itself three outs away from winning its first state championship in program history, but the defending champs weren’t going down without a fight. 

With the game starting an hour late due to rain, the fans for the Div. 4 championship game between Millbury and Lynnfield were in their seats for the seventh inning, and Polar Park was as loud as it had been all day. 

Walks plagued Glazier in the seventh, as five reached via base on balls while the Eagles rallied to put three on the board to take a 4-3 lead. 

“Honestly, at one point I was on the brink of just being like ‘I’m done with this,’” Glazier said. “It was so loud and I let it get to me. That’s the number one problem. I just have to block out the noise and pitch through it. Everyone had my back, especially when we got up to hit and that’s the best feeling in the world.”

Pioneer coach Kevin Luippold never lost faith in his young pitcher. Even with the adversity he faced, Luippold threw Glazier right back out there in the eighth after the Panthers tied the game in the bottom of the seventh. 

“He was nervous,” Luippold said. “I went out and talked to him on a mound visit and he was obviously nervous. He’s a young kid and he’s still growing. He has the stature to be dominant and when he’s on, he’s on. He just had to gain that confidence back. Once he threw that first strike after the visit, he was on.

“All year in big games and situations we talk about teams settling in first,” Luippold continued. “He settled in when he first got out there then unfortunately ran into trouble. We talked to him in the dugout and had some mound visits and told him he just had to settle in. Once he did it was lights out from there.”

Glazier gave up a hit to open the eighth, recorded a pair of outs before English singled to regain the lead, 5-4. Glazier was able to get a flyout to end the inning. 

Glazier got his chance for revenge at the plate. Brody Welcome singled, Ben Werner knocked him over to second and Glazier came up and blasted a single to bring Welcome home to tie the game. Glazier went on to score the game-winning run on an error after Alex McClelland put the ball in play to allow the Panthers to lift the championship trophy. 

“I wasn’t thinking,” Glazier said. “I just saw the curveball and pieced it. It wouldn’t have happened if Ben didn’t bunt him over.” 

There’s a reason it’s so hard to win a state championship and there are even more reasons why it’s rarer to see a team do it without losing a game throughout the season. 

That speaks to the culture built under coach Kevin Luippold, who has seen his squad go through the trials and tribulations these past four years. From winning Western Mass. titles, pulling upsets on the road during the state tournament to making the Div. 5 semifinals three years in a row but being unable to overcome that hurdle. 

The Panthers were different this year, working hard throughout the offseason to improve and make this a season to remember. Even after English seemed to take command of the game multiple times late, the Pioneer players came together to regroup, refocus and get the job done. 

“I was a wreck on the bench during those last few innings,” Braeden Tsipenyuk said. “These dudes pick you up when you’re down and they give you opportunities. They refuse to die and I love that about them. You can’t teach a mentality like that.” 

You can’t script a crazier game or a better ending to a state title game, coming back multiple times to win in extras. It’s a game nobody at Pioneer will ever forget. 

“It’s the best feeling in the world when you hit a walk-off, especially to win a state championship,” Luippold said. “A storybook couldn’t write it better. We’ve had to come from behind a couple times before and these guys have been in this position before but they don’t roll over. Four runs, five runs in the first or second we know we’re going to hit the ball and come back.” 

While Luippold deserves the credit for building the culture at Pioneer, he praised all his assistant coaches — Jake Sak, Jason Quinn, Jacob Quinn and Nick Bresciano — for the work they’ve put in to help the Panthers get to this spot. 

Luippold also thanked his dad, Tom Luippold, who has been by his side through these past four years. 

“To do it with this coaching staff is an unbelievable feeling,” Luippold said. “It’s all of them but to do it beside my father for these last four years is the best feeling in the entire world. He’s always by my side when I get anxious and he talks to these kids in a way that not everyone does. He has such a calm, cool, collected mentality which helps these young minds. Without these coaches, an undefeated season, a state championship and these playoff wins don’t happen.” 

Capturing a state title on Father’s Day Weekend with your dad by your side is something Kevin said he’ll never forget, nor will Tom who has seen all the hard work that went into this championship.

“It’s just been fun to see,” Tom Luippold said. “It’s been such a fun year. We’ve been doing this for a long time. Everything that baseball has instilled in him he brought to those kids. The kids did it themselves but he brought them together. It was just so much fun to see. They’re just a fun group. They play hard and love the game. That all reflects on all the coaches. We all love the game but Kevin brought it all together and it’s been amazing getting to do this with him.”