Barry Koeneke will leave a lasting legacy in Hallsville

HALLSVILLE, Mo (KMIZ)

For nearly the last half century, Hallsville has had the same baseball coach. Barry Koeneke outlasted 17 Royals managers, 10 Cardinals skippers, and eight Mizzou football coaches in his time with the Indians.

“Somewhere along the line, I guess I developed some sense of loyalty that sometimes, you know, you gotta hang in there," Koeneke said.

At the beginning of the season, Koeneke told his players and the district that he would be hanging up the hat at the end of the 2021 season.

“I think they were stunned. I don’t think they expected anything," he said.

In 46 years with the Indians, Koeneke brought the program to 16 district championships, eight final four appearances, and three state championship titles. To top it all off, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame inducted the Hallsville baseball program back in 2019.

"Those are memories for everybody," he said. "I've got memories of kids who never made it much further. I've got seniors who never got to play varsity ball until their senior year, they weren't real good. I find a place for them to play and they get a couple of hits and it's made their whole career. I'm just happy about some of those."

Many would describe the Hall of Famer's coaching style as tough love.

"I know for a lot of people, especially freshmen, he can be a little intimidating," former Hallsville baseball player Alex Wimer said. "He can be an intimidating presence, but, you know, that's okay. That's a good way to get you message across."

One current player even said one his funniest memories from the team came in one of those tough love kind of moments.

“One practice, we messed up on something and we started laughing. He said ‘ha ha ha, that’s so funny. Now drop and give me 50 pushups,'" said Ben Boyle, a player on the team.

"They understand that I love them and care about them," Koeneke said.

He coached his final regular season home game for Hallsville on May 11. After the game district officials announced that, in the fall, the field will be named, "Koeneke Field," in Coach K's honor.

“I said why don’t you just wait until I’m sprinkled on the field or buried. But they thought this was the right time," he said.

But even without a field to honor his time in Hallsville, it's clear his legacy will still live on.

“I know I’m going to tell my kids about him, I still tell my friends about him, I’ll tell my grandkids about him," Wimer said.