Gridley’s Crabtree named Coach of the Year

Gridley High’s Dan Crabtree has been named the Appeal-democrat All-area Coach of the Year after guiding the Bulldogs to a 27-3-1 record and the first Northern Section title in program history.

Dan Crabtree’s foray into coaching baseball actually came when he was still a player.

It all started when he was a senior at Gridley High in 1991 and was playing Big League baseball, a version of Little League for players ages 16-18 that has since been discontinued. His coach at the time wasn’t going to be able to manage the club, and fearing that their season would be lost and the team would be broken up, Crabtree decided to step in and take over the reigns.

“I was 18, so I called and asked if I could coach. I said to just put my name down, and technically that’s how my coaching career started,” said Crabtree, who ended up serving as a player-coach that season. “We ended up going like 15-1, and it was funny because I was just some 18-year-old punk kid and went to the meeting with all of the other managers to pick all-stars at the end of season. We had won everything, and they said why don’t you just play this time and got another coach.”

Crabtree has grown up quite a bit since then, and has become somewhat of institution at Gridley over the years while giving back to the community he grew up in.

He’s coached Little League and youth football, was an assistant coach for Gridley High’s football team for seven years, and recently wrapped up his 18th season leading the Bulldogs’ varsity baseball program this spring.

And what a spring it turned out to be.

With a talented senior class that started to turn heads five years ago as Little Leaguers joining forces with a strong crop of juniors, Crabtree knew before the season that the team had the makings of something special.