BY STEVE KRAH
Two former big league players and three coaches will be enshrined in the Class of 2020 of the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
The ceremony is slated for 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 17, 2020 during the IHSBCA Coaches Clinic at Sheraton at Keystone Crossing in Indianapolis.
George Cuppy, a right-handed pitcher who played in the majors from 1892-1901, was selected by the veterans committee. He was born in Logansport, Ind., in 1869 and died in Elkhart, Ind., in 1922.
Cuppy won 162 games with the National League’s Cleveland Spiders and St. Louis Perfectos and the American League’s Boston Americans.
Four others — Clint Barmes, Scott Upp, Tony Uggen and Brian Abbott — were selected by a vote of the IHSBCA membership. The ballot went out in October.
Primarily a middle infielder, Barmes enjoyed 13 seasons in Major League Baseball.
Barmes is a graduate of Vincennes Lincoln High School (1997), played one season each at Olney (Ill.) Central College and Indiana State University, the latter for Hall of Fame coach Bob Warn.
While at ISU, Barmes was voted all-region and all-conference after hitting .375 with 93 hits, 10 home runs, 18 doubles, seven triples, 37 runs batted in, 63 runs scored and 20 stolen bases.
He was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 10th round in 2000. He played eight seasons with the Rockies (2003-10), one with the Houston Astros (2011), three with the Pittsburgh Pirates (2012-14) and one with the San Diego Padres (2015), hitting .245 with 89 homers, 415 RBI, 932 hits, 434 runs scored and 43 stolen bases.
Barmes appeared in the postseason twice (2009 and 2013) and hit .286 in the 2013 National League Division Series.
Upp is active as the head coach at LaPorte (Ind.) High School. He is a 1986 LPHS graduate. He coached the Slicers to an IHSAA Class 4A state title in 2000.
In 21.5 years, Upp is 472-197 with five Duneland Athletic Conference titles, eight sectional championships, three regional crowns, two Final Four appearances and one state championship in 2000.
He is a six-time IHSBCA District Coach of the Year, the State Coach of the Year, and District 4 National Coach of the Year. He has been IHSBCA president and served on its board of directors and numerous committees. He is a member of the IHSBCA, American Baseball Coaches Association and National High School Baseball Coaches Association.
Upp coached the 1997 IHSBCA North All-Stars and has sent several players on the college baseball with four making it to the professional ranks.
A graduate of LaPorte, where he played and later coached with 13-time Hall of Famer Ken Schreiber, played at and earned his bachelors degree from Missouri State University. He has a Masters in Administration from Indiana University and is in his 28th year in education, currently serving as associate principal at LPHS.
Scott and Pam Upp have three sons — Kevin (who played baseball at Valparaiso University), Kyle (who played baseball at Purdue University) and Travis (who currently plays at Purdue Fort Wayne).
Uggen has been the head coach at his alma mater — Blackford High School — for the past six years after 20 at Northfield and has 476 victories, 13 conference titles, seven sectional championships, four regional crowns, two semistate titles, Class 2A state championships in 2001 and 2012 and a 2A state runner-up finish in 2013.
He has coached six IHSBCA North All-Stars, 15 all-state players and 20 have gone on to the next level.
A two-time 2A Coach of the Year, he was IHSBCA North All-Star head coach in 2006 and seven times a District Coach of the Year. He has served on several IHSBCA committees.
Abbott has been the IHSBCA executive director since 2012 and spent 21 years as a high school coach, serving at Eastbrook and Huntington North.
He amassed more than 300 wins, seven county championships, four conference titles, three sectional crowns, one regional title and a Final Four appearance in 1999. Abbott is also the pitching coach at Huntington University and has been on the baseball coaching staffs of Manchester University and Indiana Wesleyan University.
Ticket information for the Hall of Fame dinner is available through HOF Chairman Jeff McKeon at 317-445-9899 or jmckeon@plainfield.k12.in.us.
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