John Sipes wasn’t looking to get back into coaching at the high school level, but at the request of a few people he threw his name into the hat for the open Platte County baseball job.
The Savannah, Mo., native was chosen to replace Rob Davenport, longtime Platte County baseball coach.
Sipes, a science teacher at Platte County Middle School, has been coaching Power Alley Baseball the past six summers. His final showcase team had five players move on to play sports in college, four for baseball teams.
John Sipes
“I enjoy passing down knowledge and not only teaching them to hit properly or field properly, but the mental aspect of baseball,” Sipes said. “You will fail a lot more than you succeed. If you understand, and are O.K. with that, you probably won’t get a base hit with a guy on third base with the winning run, but next time you will be better when you compete in that situation. It is a game of failure. Once you accept that, it becomes easier.”
Sipes isn’t new to coaching at the high school level. He coached at Odessa as an assistant for three years before moving to St. Joseph, where he was an assistant at Central for two years.
Around that time, he and his wife at the time had a son, Noah. Both were coaching in the St. Joseph School District, with his wife as a head volleyball coach at one of the high schools.
“It wouldn’t work with both of us coaching, and I was an assistant, so I quit,” Sipes said. “I always told myself, when I got out of coaching, I got out more for family reasons. I needed to get back (into coaching) and the only way I’d do that, is if I could get a job at Platte County. I wanted to be in that area. It’s in the upper echelon, as far as conference athletes and I always enjoyed the facilities. If Platte was available, I’d go back to coaching.”
Along with coaching at the high school level, Sipes brings with him an impressive background when it comes to playing. The Savannah product attended Northwest Missouri State between 1999 and 2003 and his name dots the record book, even 15 years after graduation.
In single season marks, he is tied for second in home runs with 17. He is sixth in RBIs, ninth in total bases and slugging and 10th in walks and runs scored. His career marks include being second in RBI and games played; tied for third in home runs with 35; third in at-bats, runs scored, total bases and assists; fifth in hits and seventh in doubles.
Sipes takes over a Pirates team that lost in the opening round of the district tournament. The team lost some pieces, including Missouri Western baseball/football signee Kobe Cummings, but will return a pair of all-staters in Colby Sneed and Dalton Riechers.
The work for the 2019 season started this summer when workouts were held with Sipes and the returning assistant coaches. He noted at least 15 kids showed up during each workout, some juggling commitments to basketball and football.
Sipes doesn’t mind sharing his athletes with the other Pirates programs.
“I recommend multiple sports,” he said. “It only makes you a better athlete. It is more the competitive nature, if you are facing a 4th-and-goal from the 2-yard line and you need to score.”