Richland Northeast’s baseball team will honor the late coach Brian Bates throughout the 2024-2025 school year. Bates passed away over the summer. On Oct. 26, the team held an alumni game in his honor. 

“The idea was to just get the alumni involved. This is going on my fourth season here, it’s been an actual idea we just needed to put it in motion, ” Coach Brandon Gipson said. “[Coach Bates]  meant a lot to the program so it really inspired us to do it now and name it [the alumni game] after him.” 

The coaches and 2022 RNE graduate and former baseball player Jake Streater organized the alumni game.  

“I thought the game was great. Me and Gipson made this work over the past few months, and it was for a great cause. Coach Bates was an awesome man and meant a lot to all of us,” Streater said. 

The Athletic Department and alumni used social media to advertise the game, which was open to all. 

“ A bunch of the alumni reached out to buddies and former classmates and got people to come out,” Gipson said. 

Dozens of alumni, students, and community members showed up to honor Coach Bates.

 “Coach Bates meant a lot to this program. A lot of these guys played for Coach Bates and played with his son,” Gipson said. 

Organizers ran the idea past the Bates family. Family members attended the game and donated to the program. 

“ I played [for] him [Coach Bates] from the time I was in 7th grade to the time I graduated. It [the alumni game] was emotional at times, but it brought up a lot of good memories,” Streater said. This was not just a game but a community event. 

“It will certainly be a yearly thing, especially seeing the turnout which had generations of RNE baseball. I would have liked to see some of the older folks who we weren’t able to contact,” Streater said.

 The passing of Coach Bates, who was a key figure in the RNE baseball program, has inspired a yearly event where generations of RNE players can reminisce about their time as high school athletes.  

“We are going to dedicate the whole season to him,” Gipson said.

This story was originally published on The Saber on November 7, 2024.