Grant Bates enters his first year as a member of the Golden Eagles Baseball Staff during the 2022 season. Bates will be tasked with being the Outfield Coach and Assistant Hitting Coach.
Bates comes to the Golden Eagles after a successful 2021 summer season as Hitting Coach with the Sandusky Ice Haulers (Great Lakes Collegiate Summer League). He was there for the Club’s record 14 game winning streak. The Ice Haulers led the league in runs scored with 316. The team also was second in the league with a .289 batting average. The Haulers won the North Division and the top seed in the entire league with a 28-14 overall record. Bates was selected as the Hitting Coach for the North Division in the 2021 Great Lakes League All-Star Game.
During regular season from 2019-2021, Bates was an assistant coach at his high school alma mater Lincoln County High School where he was the hitting and infield coach. In 2021, Bates helped lead the team to 14 wins, which was a school record. The team also had a record year with a team batting average of .328. LC was also ranked in the top 10 in AAA baseball another first. The 2021 LC Team also set school records in runs 196, RBIs 158, and stolen bases with 80.
Before Coaching at the college or high school level Bates also served as the hitting coach for Diamond 9 travel baseball.
Bates isn’t a stranger to the Maroon and Gold, he played for the Golden Eagles as an infielder from 2015-2017 and then for West Virginia State University as an infielder from 2017-2019. Bates started games for both programs throughout his tenure from 2016-2019. Bates was named to the MEC All-Academic Team in 2016 and 2019. He also played in the Southern Collegiate Baseball League in 2017 for the Concord Athletics and in 2018 for the Charlotte Prospects.
At his alma mater of Lincoln County High School in Lincoln County, WV Bates is the All-Time hits leader in LCHS history. He was named to the All-State Team in 2015 and had the privilege of playing in the North-South All-Star game in 2015.
Bates is a Branchland, WV native who comes from a family of athletes and teachers. Grant is the son of Keith and Kerry Bates and has two siblings, Gabe and Victoria Bates.
