BY STEVE KRAH
Attendees at Victory Field in downtown Indianapolis July 16 and 23 got a chance to see Cole Barr’s baseball attributes on display.
Playing in the College Summer League at Grand Park All-Star Game, Indiana University’s Barr smacked a three-run triple to help the Red beat the Blue 4-2.
A week later, the Yorktown (Ind.) High School graduate lashed a two-run double to aid in the A-Team’s 6-4 triumph against the Snapping Turtles.
How does the righty-swinging third baseman assess his strengths?
“Physically, I can do it all on the field — play defense, run and hit for power,” says Barr. “The average is coming along.
“I have athleticism. I was a middle infielder until last year. I have pretty good range (at third base).”
Barr, a 5-foot-11, 191-pounder, has listened to Hoosiers head coach Jeff Mercer and former assistant Casey Dykes (now a minor league hitting coach in the New York Yankees organization) regarding hitting and done his best to apply it.
“I kist want the ball to spin true,” says Barr. “I don’t want to flare or hook the ball. I look to put myself in a good position to be able to do that.
“If I can spin the ball, I can adjust and do other things.”
Mercer has been on the job since the summer of 2018 and Barr has benefitted.
“He has a lot of information to offer,” says Barr of his head coach. “We are like-minded. We are not afraid to work hard.
“We’re pretty competitive.”
In three seasons at Indiana, Barr played in 97 games (84 starts) and hit .258 (76-of-295) with 19 home runs, 64 runs batted in, 62 runs scored and a .389 on-base percentage.
Barr broke out in 2019, hitting .255 (55-of-216) with 17 homers, 51 RBIs, 46 runs, .388 OBP and was selected in the 37th round of the 2019 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Seattle Mariners.
He decided not to sign and came back to the Hoosiers.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic halted the 2020 season, Barr started all 15 games at third base and was the regular No. 3 batter in the IU lineup. He hit .246 (14-of-57) with two homers, nine RBIs, 12 runs and a .366 OBP in 15 games.
The last game for a 9-6 team was March 11 against Cincinnati in Bloomington.
Barr stayed in shape and kept his baseball skills sharp while also keeping up with his studies during the quarantine. The Finance major and 2020 Academic All-Big Ten Conference honoree is now around 20 credits shy of his degree.
He is looking forward to in-person classes, which is scheduled to begin Aug. 24.
“Online classes — I’m not a huge fan of it,” says Barr. “It’s hard to learn business stuff and work through problems online.
“It’s hard to pay attention. I’d prefer to be in class in-person.”
Barr played for the Northwoods League’s Lakeshore Chinooks in Mequon, Wis., in the summer of 2019. The team was led by Travis Akre.
“He was a player’s kind of manager,” says Barr of Akre. “He let you do your own thing and kept you on the right track.”
Barr intended to head back to the Chinooks in 2020 when that team canceled its schedule. He was without a summer spot until May and then the Grand Park league was formed through a partnership between Bullpen Tournaments and Pro X Athlete Development.
“I like playing with a lot of my friends,” says Barr, who has now counted shortstop Cooper Trinkle as a teammate in travel ball, at Indiana and in summer collegiate ball.
Kevin Christman is the A-Team head coach.
“I love being around Kev,” says Barr. “It doesn’t matter where he is, he is trying to win.
“I’ve been able to pick his brain a little bit. He’s been around the game for a long time.”
Barr was born in Muncie, Ind., and grew up in nearby Yorktown.
He played rec league baseball and started travel ball at age 9. He was coached by Shane Summers and Justin Wittenberg with the Indiana Longhorns and Magic City Orioles.
From 12U to 17U, Barr wore the uniform of the Indiana Prospects with Shane Cox and J.P. Hessier as his head coaches. His 18U summer was spent the Mke Hitt-coached Indiana Blue Jays.
“He was a good dude,” says Barr of Hitt. “He let us have fun.”
Playing the first three years for Mike Larrabee and the last for P.J. Fauquher, Barr was a four-year varsity player at Yorktown High.
“He’s a pretty smart guy about the game,” says Barr of Larrabee. “He steered me in the direction I needed to go. The same thing with P.J.”
Barr was chosen for the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association North/South All-Star Series in 2017.
He was honorable mention all-state in 2015 and 2017 and all-Hoosier Heritage Conference 2015-17. Perfect Game rated him as the No. 2 shortstop and No. 14 overall player in Indiana. For his prep career, he hit .333 with nine homers, 45 RBIs and 51 stolen bases.
Barr was a middle infielder and also pitched as a freshman, sophomore and senior.
“I was probably a better pitcher in high school than a hitter,” says Barr. “I had no real thoughts of pitching in college. Most pitchers aren’t 5-10 now.”
Cole was also a safety and wide receiver for the Yorktown Tigers as a freshmen, junior and senior.
Joe and Cherie Barr have four sons — Cole (22), Alex (20), Reid (17) and Drew (15).
Joe Barr is a plant manager at Magna Powertrain. Cherie Barr is a nurse at IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital. Alex Barr is heading into his junior year as a Wabash College wrestler. Reid Barr will be a Yorktown High School senior and wrestler Drew Barr a YHS sophomore in the fall.
Cole Barr, a Yorktown (Ind.) High School graduate with three baseball seasons logged at Indiana University, is playing with the A-Team in the 2020 College Summer League at Grand Park. (Indiana University Photo)
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