By Tom Haley
RUTLAND HERALD
It isn’t only the wins, losses and championships that are stored most prominently in your memory long after you leave high school sports behind. Sometimes it’s those side trips, stuff off the field, that you and your teammates recall most vividly.
Larry Partridge, a 1974 Springfield High graduate, remembers the “southern trip” in baseball that coach Bo Birsky would take the Cosmos on each season.
“Bo would take a bus down to Connecticut to play some round-robin games,” Partridge said.
“We would always stop at a restaurant that was also a dance hall. Bo would dance the polka.”
There were memories on the field, court and track, too, for Partridge who will be inducted into Springfield High School’s Hall of Fame in March.
One was winning the two-mile state championship in indoor track and field.
“I don’t remember much about that,” Partridge said.
Despite his success as a runner — he also ran cross country for the Cosmos in the fall all four years — he did not compete in track and field in the spring.
That is because it was baseball season.
“Baseball was my first love,” Partridge said.
He was a very fast outfielder but also played some first base and pitched a little.
“When I was young, I pitched too much. The cartilage broke down in my elbow about seventh grade,” Partridge said.
After Birsky stepped away from baseball, Richie Wyman became the coach.
“Both Bo and Richie inspired me,” Partridge said.
It was in 2013 that the Cosmos’ diamond was dedicated to Birsky and Wyman.
Following his 1974 graduation from SHS, Partridge looked at Castleton, Lyndon and Springfield College when deciding where to spend his next four years.
Wyman had graduated from Springfield College and gave Partridge the nudge in that direction.
Partridge chose Springfield College.
“Springfield, Massachusetts was a new experience. It was culture shock. But it was the best thing I ever did,” Partridge said.
But the hometown beckoned. He came back after graduating from Springfield College in 1978 where he made his mark in the area of school and recreational sports.
He worked in Springfield’s Recreation department for nearly 20 years. He coached middle school softball, he was the Springfield High varsity baseball coach for nine years and the SHS girls varsity basketball coach from 1991 through 1999.
He worked to elevate the status of girls basketball by moving home games from the small physical education gym at the high school to the large Dressel Gym at Riverside Middle School where the boys high school basketball team has always played.
Danielle Hunt, who scored 1,196 points for the Cosmos and went on to score 447 in one season at Castleton, was among the players who asked Partridge why the girls team did not play in the bigger gym.
It was with the help of of Tom Lovett, athletic director at the time, that the move was made.
Lovett was another man Partridge greatly admired.
“We had a lot of great discussions about philosophy and sports,” Partridge said.
Partridge was good friends with Bo’s son Greg Birsky. They were teammates and Partridge spent a lot of time at the Birsky house.
“They were like family,” Partridge said.
Partridge’s first exposure to coaching was with the Springfield American Legion baseball team. He was still eligible to play Legion ball the first summer after his freshman year at college. He played for the Springfield Legion club with Reggie Parker as the coach. Partridge’s role was as a player/assistant coach.
When Parker stepped down the next year, Partridge and Greg Birsky were the co-coaches of the team.
Today, Partridge and his wife live in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina but it’s not a retirement destination for them yet. He manages 150 apartments.
Partridge said there are many similarities between being a manager of apartments and coaching. They include organizing your time and inspiring those employees on your team.
They live about 15 minutes away from the Coastal Carolina University and have adopted the Chanticleers as their team, attending games.
Coastal Carolina has provided them with many thrills including winning the 2016 Division NCAA Division I national championship in baseball.
Being a member of the newest SHS HOF class along with Heather Hake Hartford, Patty Porter Deschaine, Jessica Anderson, Make Favreau, Amelia Zielonko, the 1974 Class L state championship softball team and the 1925 All-New England girls basketball championship team that swamped Keene 22-3 in the title game, means something special to Partridge.
“I was humbled, just to have my name come up and just to be nominated,” Partridge said.
tom.haley @rutlandherald.com
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