By Malcolm Butler
Cedar Creek’s staff directory will have a whole new look next year.
Just a few weeks after the introduction of William Parkerson as the Cougars new head football coach, the school announced Chad Yates today as the new head baseball coach.
Yates replaces Trey Long who served in the role the past two seasons for the Cougars. He joins Parkerson and Katie Hall (girls basketball) as the three newest head coaches at the school.
“I am excited about it,” said Yates, a Ruston High and Louisiana Tech graduate. “It’s an opportunity that I’m blessed to receive. Cedar Creek is traditionally a strong baseball program year in and year out. This is not only an opportunity to come back to my hometown, but to lead a program of young men. That was a big draw for me. I am excited and grateful for the opportunity.”
Yates spent the past two years as the assistant coach at Benton High School and has more than 10 years of coaching experience as the high school, junior college and minor league levels.
“We are excited to welcome Coach Yates and his family into our Cedar Creek family,” said Head of School Cindy Hampton. “We believe he is the right person to lead our baseball program to success, and we are looking forward to the future. He has baseball credentials as a player and coach to lead our entire program, from our young kids to our high school team. It’s additionally important that he is an experienced math teacher and will help our students be successful in the classroom as well as on the baseball field.”
After a stellar high school playing career at Ruston High, Yates spent four years pitching for the Bulldog baseball program.
Yates also has professional baseball experience, as both a player and a coach. He played in the St. Louis Cardinals minor league organization from 1999 through 2001, where he earned a spot on the 2001 Midwest League All-Star team.
“Chad brings years of experience to our baseball program,” said former Cedar Creek baseball coach Ben Haddox, who served on the hiring committee. “I am so excited to see him further our rich traditions. He has shown the ability to coach and reach kids of all ages which I think will reflect from the elementary pee wee league, into the Junior High, and finally reflect in our varsity team. His coaching style will be a great fit for Cedar Creek School.”
Yates spent two years as an assistant coach at Bossier Parish Community College (2002-2004) while also serving as the pitching coach for the Shreveport Sports, an Independent League team coached by former Major League Baseball manager Terry Bevington.
So what does Yates consider his style of baseball?
“It’s a mix of new school and old school,” said Yates. “I like the old school style of putting pressure on the defense, whether that is bunting, hit and run, just finding ways to get on base and score runs. With my background with pitching, we will put a lot of work into that and being competitive on the mound and giving ourselves a chance to win. Playing the game the right way. Competing. It will be ingrained into our players that we are going out every time to represent our school and ourselves.”
Yates, who owned a baseball and softball developmental academy for four years early in his career, has spent time coaching on the high school level at Calvary Baptist (2008-12), Evangel Christian (2019), Captain Shreve (2020), Bossier High (2021) and Benton (2022-2023).
He was part of back-to-back state title game teams at Calvary Baptist in 2011 (state runner-up) and 2012 (state champions).
Yates said there were several things that drew him to Cedar Creek.
“I think the people associated with the program … I just felt like there is a strong desire to be successful,” said Yates. “Not only at the high school level, but with the developmental programs coming up through the system. We want to see those kids be excited about Cedar Creek baseball. I think the facilities are top notch. It’s a strong academic school. I see a program that can be very successful on and off the field.”
Yates guided Bossier High to the state playoffs in 2021 and Benton to the state playoffs each of the past two years.
“I want to thank Benton Principal Teri Howe, head coach Dane Peavy, and AD Reynolds Moore for the opportunity they provided me the past two years,” said Yates.
