Lake Country This Month

By Pat Neumuth Freeman Staff HARTLAND — Mr. Bahr is not the coach of Lake Coun- try Lutheran High School baseball team. David Bahr, who also teaches math at the school, says that Mr. Bahr is his father. So the students at Lutheran and its baseball players call him D-Bahr. "Since we go to school with 254 kids, he likes his relationships to be extreme- ly personal," recent LCL gradute CJ Teske said. "Ever since I was a fresh- man at the school, we'd call him D-Bahr. He plays around with us and jokes around with us on the base- ball team all the time. He just likes it to be very relaxed and have a personal relationship with each and every one of us on the base- ball team." That laidback approach has done wonders for the LCL baseball program. The Lightning finished 28-2 and won its second straight state championship, appearing in its third straight title game. His team's performance helped Bahr be selected The Freeman's Coach of the Year for the 2014-15 school year. But what makes this sea- son extra special for Bahr was this year's team had to play in the shadows of last year's perfect team. In the 2014 state champions went 31-0 and were the odds-on favorite to win it all with a majority of starters back from the 2013 state runner- up team. This season started per- fect recordwise, but after how good the 2014 team was, Bahr had some doubts if the team could repeat. Not only was that team extraordinari- ly good, but Lake Country Lutheran was bumped up from Division 4 to Division 3. "There were times that we played so poorly, I really did- n't know if we could get out of our regional," Bahr said. "To get going at the end of the year and by winning three of our last six games coming from behind in the last inning, there's really no other words than crazy. "In retrospect, it was real- ly, really cool to be a part of something like that. I don't want to compare this year to last year very much, but that team went undefeated and that team didn't have many close games. It was more pressure-filled to stay unde- feated. This one was much more enjoyable because it was a surprise." The Lightning was already the largest Division 4 team in the state and the school's enrollment went up — so Bahr knew the jump was coming this season. With that in mind, Bahr added some better competi- tion to the schedule, playing teams in Divisions 1 and 2 — including Division 2 cham- pion Milwaukee Lutheran. LCL lost to the Red Knights 13-12 in the middle of the season, but it was a learning experience his team needed to get ready for a tougher postseason run. "A lot of times in Division 4, teams would have two or three quality players and have five or six holes — but not that they were bad," Bahr said. "In Division 3, every team had six or seven guys that could really play and you had to earn your way onto the bases. We got into the tournament on balls we got extra base hits on, they were getting caught. The pitchers were just that much better — quicker or mixed their stuff better — and didn't give up free bases. It's just a more solid level of baseball." However, Bahr said it was playing against Arrowhead in a scrimmage before the regular season that really set the bar for how well LCL would have to play this year. With the road to the state tournament, Bahr's easy- going coaching style never wavered. "He never put pressure on us from the get-go, even though we won state last year," Teske said. "Of course he wants us to suc- ceed, but he wants us to have fun. He told me plenty of times this year, 'Don't worry about your batting average. Don't worry about all the pressure from your parents or baseball players in gener- al. Just have some fun, that's really all you have to do.'" The LCL players are care- free on the diamond and other teams notice it. Brook- field Academy coach Doug Kolasinski has coached against Bahr the Midwest Classic Conference for eight years and has noticed the team's gradual rise to the top has had a lot to do with Bahr's coaching philoso- phies. "I could tell he is a good teacher of the game," Kolasinski said. "They put the time in and work hard. You can see it when you play them. They are physically gifted kids and good kids. They play the game well. With Dave, he instills in them the passion to compete and play the game the right way, and to play hard." Bahr was able to get his players motivated into thinking they could win a state championship this year. However, he can admit he had a little more doubts about winning it. The one trick he had up his sleeve was still experience. "We certainly benefitted from being there the year before," Bahr said. "We expected them to do what they did and in practice we never told them they could- n't win a state champi- onship. This year, we would make comments like, 'You can't play that way and win the state tournament. You have to do a better job to beat a team solid at every posi- tion.' We would refer to the state tournament and bene- fit from being there the past couple of years." Like hitting, winning is contagious in Bahr's eyes and LCL has proven to be one of the best baseball pro- grams in the state. But will the Lightning win a third straight? "I'm not going to tell them they can't," Bahr said. "I like the fact that we got five starters back and a couple of players injured all year that are quality. The fact of the matter is we lost our two top pitchers again like we did last year, and we are going to have to develop some pitch- ers. This year, we had a guy who threw a lot of varsity innings in Ben Wilkins. Next year, we don't have anybody with that kind of experience. "The focus will be getting better for the tournament and not any one game or any of the subgoals along the way. We are constantly talk- ing about how we are going to look at the end of the year. We don't care about the score, we care about the way they are playing." Email: pneumuth@conleynet.com FREEMAN & ENTERPRISE LAKE COUNTRY • Page 7 AUGUST 2015 Back row - Paul Bucher, Paul Kntzer, Thomas Simon, Steven Lownik Front row - Jodie Massey, Susan Calvanico, Deborah Mueller We now handle wills and probate Our staff is available 24/7 to provide immediate intervention with the expertise and legal acumen to assist with the many needs of our clients. We are located in Delafield at 355 Austin Circle, Suite 110. To schedule a free consultation, please contact us at (262) 303-4916, or visit our website at www.bucherlawgroup.com When You Are Really in Trouble... Bucher Law Group, LLC, has over 100 years legal experience, with five staff attorneys to assist you with every legal need. We offer assistance in criminal defense, real estate, probate, litigation, worker's compensation, social security disability and family court matters. 2 4 1 6 6 9 0 0 2 Se Habla Espanol Llame Para Hablar Con Julia. 245577003 D-Bahr a laidback leader for Lightning THE FREEMAN'S 2014-15 COACH OF THE YEAR Lightning coach wins another title At a glance Who: David Bahr What: Lake Country Lutheran baseball coach who was selected the 2014-15 Freeman Coach of the Year Age: 49 Residence: Hartland Family: wife, Janet, the athletic director at Lutheran; son, Tim, a junior at Concordia University of Chicago; and daughter, Lind- sey, a sophomore at Lutheran Occupation: math teacher at Lake Country Lutheran Education: Niagara-Wheatfield High School in Niagara Falls, N.Y.; bachelor's degree from Concordia University of Chica- go in 1987; master's degree from Indiana Weselyan 1997 Kristin Simons/Special to The Freeman Lake Country Lutheran baseball coach David Bahr led the Lightning to the WIAA Division 3 state title after winning the Division 4 title last season.

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