Krause appointed Carmichaels baseball coach
Carmichaels High School did not have to look far for its new varsity baseball coach.
The district’s school board appointed Richard “Dickie” Krause as head coach at Thursday night’s meeting. Krause, a professor at Waynesburg University and member of the school board, was appointed to the job on a volunteer basis.
It is Krause’s second stint as head coach after leading the Mikes during the 1998 and 99 seasons. He replaces Scott Van Sickle, who left to become an assistant coach with the Yellow Jackets after leading Carmichaels to the WPIAL Class A title game and the PIAA Class A quarterfinals.
“This was never about the money or the compensation,” Krause said. “I’m a big baseball guy. I’ve coached at a lot of different levels, I love the game, and it’s been great to me.”
Krause is very familiar with the school district. He served as an assistant under Van Sickle last spring, graduated from Carmichaels in 1982, played baseball for four years there and has coached the middle school football team. He went on to play at California University before coaching stints at Waynesburg, Washington & Jefferson and the Fayette County League.
Carmichaels athletic director John Krajnak did not have a difficult decision to make when Krause applied for the opening.
“Dickie has been coaching for a long time,” Krajnak said. “Baseball has been a big part of his life. The kids respond to his coaching, and his track record speaks for itself.”
When Van Sickle submitted his letter of resignation, Krause did not hesitate to apply. When he was officially approved as the new baseball coach, Krause’s phone was inundated with congratulatory text messages from community members, co-workers and friends.
“The program means a lot to me,” Krause said. “I want to see it succeed and continue to succeed. It’s a special night and there has been a ton of support. I’m looking forward to it because this is an age group you can make them better players. It’s not like when you are working with older guys. You can’t change much with them, but you can do a lot to develop younger kids.”
Krause will have to juggle several responsibilities this spring: his job at Waynesburg University, his position on the school board and his newest gig, overseeing one of the top baseball programs in WPIAL Class A.
“It was something I really wanted to do so there are always challenges, but my intent at this point would be to get a couple good assistants, build a program the board and administration would be proud of and a program kids want to play for,” Krause said. “That’s what is important to me.”