Aug 27, 2016 5 min read

Dave Bates considers his life “one great blessing after another,” and the fifth-grade history teacher at Carmichaels Elementary Center can pinpoint the moment when everything was set into motion.

Bates spent a year at Waynesburg University, then known as Waynesburg College, but was packed and ready to head West because he could not afford to remain enrolled. That’s when he met Janet Brown, who encouraged Bates to stay and provided the financial means for him to do so.

Thanks to Brown’s generosity, a grateful Bates stayed in school and earned dual bachelor’s degrees in English and elementary education in 1988.

Since then, Bates has been, as he put it Friday afternoon, “on fire.”

Some remember Bates for catching a touchdown pass on the final play of his high school football career and hitting three home runs in his last varsity baseball appearance, but he’s accomplished incredible things since. After college, he moved to Colorado and worked as a ski instructor. He’s a published author, having written articles for multiple outdoor magazines. He’s working on his first book. Bates is a hunter safety instructor for Pennsylvania Game Commission and he recently opened Alpha Omega Shooting Solutions.

If that wasn’t enough, the husband of Kelly and father of Emma is training to become a police officer at the age of 50.

“I’m continually learning and I love that,” Bates said.

People who follow high school baseball got to know Bates not long after he became the head coach at Carmichaels in 1999 following successful stints at Conneaut and Lakeview high schools in northwestern Pennsylvania. It didn’t take long for the Mikes to became a Class A power, not only in the WPIAL but the PIAA.

Bates preached fundamentals. His teams excelled defensively. The Mikes knew how to run the bases, and, unlike many baseball teams, his players knew the value of a well-placed bunt. If Carmichaels needed a run, Bates wasn’t afraid to have his No. 3 or cleanup hitter lay down a sacrifice bunt.

While that approach might be unorthodox, the results were extraordinary.

Carmichaels made the postseason 10 consecutive years, including Bates’ final year as head coach in 2010 after a 0-9 start.

Few coaches in Washington and Greene counties presided over more championship-caliber teams in such a short span. Carmichaels won WPIAL Class A championships in 2003, 2005 and 2008. The Mikes were WPIAL runners-up in 2004 and 2009. The 2003 team was one of the last high school teams to win a WPIAL championship at PNC Park, and led the PIAA in runs, averaging more than 10 per game for the season.

In 2005, Carmichaels blanked previously unbeaten Chartiers-Houston in the title game before a packed house at Consol Energy Field. The 2008 team remains one of the best in Greene County sports history. Behind Joby Lapkowicz and Chuck Gasti, Carmichaels went 23-2, won an astonishing 21 consecutive games and was PIAA runner-up, a tough luck 2-0 loser to Camp Hill.

From 2000 to 2010, the road to winning a WPIAL Class A baseball championship went through Carmichaels.

“I used to always say, ‘If a little school like Carmichaels could become a force in PIAA baseball, any school can do it,” Bates said. “But you have to have the right things and, to me, the most important thing is having good citizens. You need great players, but you’ll be successful if those great players are great in the classroom, in the hallway, at home. We had that. Our kids gave their all and gave it in spades. I’m always so proud of our kids, and I’m more proud of them now and seeing what they’ve become than I was when they were playing.”

Carmichaels boasted some of Class A’s best talent. There were the Lapkowicz brothers – twins Jared and Jeff and younger brother Joby. Jared Lapkowicz graduated as the WPIAL’s all-time wins leader and a 38-4 record.

“I remember the first game he pitched for us, we lost 1-0 to Bentworth,” Bates said. “After the game, we go to my office an he’s almost in tears. He said he wasn’t as prepared as he should be and he’d never let it happen again. You know what? He never did. He had a refusal to lose.”

There was Gasti and Shayne Busti and Colby Giles, among many others.

But, along with great talent, Bates is quick to credit the competition. At the time, Washington and Greene counties might have been Pennsylvania’s premier area for small-school baseball. Consider, Carmichaels played quality programs in Bentworth, California, Chartiers-Houston and Jefferson-Morgan multiple times each season.

That meant Bates matched up against a who’s who of coaches in Dion Jansante (Bentworth), Don Hartman (California), Dan Alderson (Chartiers-Houston) and John Curtis (Jefferson-Morgan). The combined wins of those coaches is too high to count.

“You had your hands full every game, and it gave you an edge,” Bates said. “That’s truly what I miss about baseball so much. I miss the edge.”

Bates, who worked in administration at Carmichaels and Jefferson-Morgan before returning to the classroom, also misses the routine – folding uniforms, the Mikes’ trusty mojo bucket, the bus rides and postgame meals. It’s why he’s longing to add another title to his list of duties and, maybe, another championship or two to the résumé.

Bates wants to return to coaching and, given his credentials and knowledge, he’s a can’t-miss candidate.

Mike Kovak is assistant night editor at Observer-Reporter. His email address is mkovak@observer-reporter.com.