Vince D’Adamo: What did you enjoy most about competing in athletics throughout your life?
Andrew Pieper: I most enjoyed the relationships that I built with both teammates and coaches during my athletic career. I am still good friends with many of the people I played with and still stay in contact with many of the coaches that coached me. I also enjoyed the valuable lessons that athletics taught me among those being lessons in hard work, being goal oriented and working as a team to achieve success.
D’Adamo: What have you been doing since graduating from high school?
Pieper: After high school I continued my baseball career at Napa Valley College where I played for two years and from my exposure at the JC, received a scholarship to play at Missouri Western State University. After graduating from Missouri Western with a degree in Business Administration, I moved back to Napa and started working as an accountant at a local firm.
D’Adamo: What was your favorite class at Napa High?
Pieper: My favorite classes at Napa High were U.S. history with Brian King and Economics with Mike Warrington.
D’Adamo: What was your favorite athletic moment at Napa High?
Pieper: My favorite athletic moment at Napa High was our last drive on offense at the Section Championship game in 2007. We needed to get a couple of first downs to clinch the win and so we just kept handing the ball off to Jake Croxdale. He scratched and clawed for every yard he could get which eventually lead us to victory. Jake was the hardest working and most determined athlete I've ever had the privilege to play with and in that drive I could just see it in his eye that he would not be denied the championship. I'll never forget winning that title with some of my best friends that I still have to this day.
D’Adamo: How much do you feel you have grown personally since graduating from high school and how much of that do you trace to athletics?
Pieper: I feel I have grown very much since graduating high school, and I owe a lot of that growth to what I learned from athletics. I was lucky to have some of the best coaches. From Matt Stewart, who was my coach at 13 years old playing River Rats, to Troy Mott who coached our section championship team and many in between. My coaches throughout the years have all influenced me immensely. All of the coaches I've had have taught me the valuable lessons in life. All have emphasized the value of hard work and putting your best foot forward everyday, no matter what. The influence they have had on my present self is exponential and I owe all my coaches a great deal of thanks for molding me into the man I am today.
D’Adamo: Within your family, who have been the most influential people?
Pieper: My father has been and still continues to be, the most influential person on me. He is the hardest working person I know and would do anything to ensure that my sister and I have a happy and successful life. He has taught me so many valuable lessons that I hope to pass on to my future children. Not to discount my other family members, who have also played crucial roles in my development over the years. I am lucky to have all of them in my life.
D’Adamo: Name a historical figure, dead or alive, in or out of sports you would most like to meet.
Pieper: The historical figure I would most like to meet is Jerry Rice. He embodies what it means to be a true professional. He wasn't the biggest he wasn't the fastest, but he was going to outwork everyone, every time.
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