Longtime NRHEG teacher/coach leads Loyola to victory
HOME AGAIN — Jeff Reese, left, jokes with Jake Stork Saturday. (Star Eagle photo by Jim Lutgens)
By JIM LUTGENS
Editor/Publisher
Unlike the last time he officially appeared at the site, there was no ceremony, no speeches, no fanfare or anything of the like for Jeff Reese.
There was just another Reese victory.
Returning to the field named after him and his late wife, Carol, the now un-retired Reese guided his Mankato Loyola baseball team past NRHEG 7-1 on Saturday, May 12.
You got the feeling Reese’s team would win, no matter what color he was wearing. He coached baseball for 35 years at New Richland-Hartland and NRHEG, ranking No. 9 in state history with 457 victories when he temporarily put away the cleats as Carol battled pancreatic cancer.
The last time Reese appeared at the local baseball field in an official capacity was the spring of 2016, at the dedication ceremony renaming the facility from Legion Field to Jeff and Carol Reese Field.
Saturday’s game was rather hastily arranged, recently added to the schedule when both teams found openings.
Reese admitted it was a bit melancholy.
“It was kind of bittersweet,” he said. “I’ll always be a Panther at heart. But I love being at Mankato Loyola now.”
How did he end up at Loyola?
With a daughter, Joy, living in St. Peter and a grandson named Reese among other grandchildren, it was a good fit for him. But it wasn’t the main reason. Reese’s nephew, Ben Ellingworth, is a sophomore at Loyola. He was the winning pitcher Saturday.
Not wanting to unseat Drew Paukert as NRHEG’s head coach and not desiring an assistant coaching position, Reese jumped at the opening at Loyola. And Loyola jumped at the chance to hire a hall of fame coach.
The Crusaders were 17-5 last spring under Reese, and they’re currently 12-1 and tied for first in the Valley Conference.
The Panthers, behind Spencer Tufte’s pitching, hung in there Saturday, trailing just 3-1 after five innings. But the dam broke open in the sixth, Loyola plating four runs.
“NRHEG is not that bad,” said Reese. “It seems like they always have that one bad inning.”
Ellingworth, who’s also the quarterback and point guard at Loyola, is the son of Carol’s brother.
“He threw a nice game (Saturday),” said Reese.
The memory of Carol lives on for Reese, and not just in the sign hanging in center field. It was evident her battle with cancer and subsequent death took their toll. He lost weight and did not look the same.
Coaching at Loyola seems to have brought a spring back to his step, though he’s stepping a bit more lightly these days, dealing with a bad hip whose replacement keeps getting delayed.
“It’s a baseball school,” he said of Loyola. “When I interviewed, I was pretty confident I might get the job.”