A veteran of the Lakeland baseball program for well over a decade now, Mike Bachar returns for his sixth season as head coach of the Muskies.
Bachar has compiled a 60-126 record in his first five years as the Muskies’ head coach, including a 13-24 record last year. Lakeland posted its highest win total since 2012 and was competitive in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference with a 7-13 mark that ranked at the back of a pack of six teams separated by a total of four games.
The Muskies showed improvement after a 9-30 record in 2015. Lakeland finished with a respectable 7-10 record in home games that year and had eight players finish in the top 10 in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference individual statistical categories.
The Muskies posted an 11-28 record in 2014. Lakeland got off to a 5-5 start to the season but struggled through another tough Wisconsin spring in posting a 3-17 mark in the NACC. The Muskies also finished 10-23 in 2013, as weather made it difficult for the team to even get outside and practice, much less play games at home. Lakeland didn’t play its home opener until April 23 and played just eight home games all season, finishing 6-16 and tied for 10th in the NACC.
In his first season as head coach of his alma mater, Bachar’s Muskies finished 17-21, including 7-15 in the NACC. Lakeland got off to a good start and was 16-10 through 26 games, but lost 11 of their final 12 games.
Bachar was promoted to head coach after serving as an assistant coach at Lakeland for five years. The start of his coaching career followed a standout two-year career at shortstop with the Muskies in which he helped the team reach the NCAA Division III Tournament in 2003 and 2004. Bachar was named All-Lake Michigan Conference as a senior, when he led the conference in walks (16) and was fifth in runs scored (17), while also ranking fourth in defensive assists (44).
A native of Berwyn, Ill., Bachar graduated from Lakeland in 2005 with a bachelor's degree in exercise science, and he received his master of arts in counseling from Lakeland in May 2010.
In 2008, Bachar married the former Kristi Thill, a 2006 Lakeland graduate and former Muskie women’s basketball player. The couple resides in Plymouth with their daughter Kaelyn and son Landon.
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| Mike Bachar Coaching Record |
|
| Year |
Overall Record |
Conf. Record |
|
| 2012 |
17-21 |
7-15 |
|
| 2013 |
10-23 |
6-16 |
|
| 2014 |
11-28 |
3-17 |
|
|
|
| 2015 |
9-30 |
3-17 |
|
| 2016 |
13-24 |
7-13 |
|
| Career |
60-126 |
26-78 |
|
