Curt Karpinski Inducted into Ohio High School Coaches Hall of Fame

Baldwin-Wallace College hall of fame pitcher Curt Karpinski will be inducted into the Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Friday at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Columbus.

Curt was an outstanding pitcher for the Yellow Jackets from 1969 to 1972, compiling an 8–5 record and a 2.21 earned run average in 29 appearances and striking out 149 batters in 122 innings. He was the Ohio Athletic Conference strikeout champion in 1971 and topped the conference in 1972 with a 6–0 record and a 0.63 ERA — the lowest ever recorded by a B-W pitcher. He holds the school record for the lowest career ERA along with fellow hall of famer Bob Love ’68, and he allowed fewer hits per game than any other pitcher in B-W history.

After graduating from Baldwin-Wallace, Curt signed a free agent contract with the Cleveland Indians and spent two years in their minor league system before injuries ended his career. In his rookie season, he struck out 70 batters in 66 innings and posted a 1.77 ERA, earning him a spot on the Gulf Coast League’s all-star team.

In 1988, after a successful stint as the head baseball coach at Oberlin College, he was hired for the top job at Elyria High School. Over the next 17 seasons, he guided the Pioneers to a 236–148 (.615) record and won six conference championships, five sectional titles, three district crowns and a trip to the Ohio High School Athletic Association Final Four in 1992.

Several of the ballplayers he mentored at Elyria went on to successful careers at his alma mater, including recent All-OAC outfielders Brian Johnson ’01 and Matt Green ’06, and All–Mideast Region catcher Joey Dallas ’93, who followed him into the B-W Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006.

Hall of Famers

Friday’s ceremony will mark Curt’s third induction into an athletic hall of fame. He was inducted into B-W’s hall of fame in 1992, and he was a member of the inaugural hall of fame class at his high school alma mater, Keystone High School, in 1997.

[ B-W Baseball Athletic Hall of Famers ]

One Response to Curt Karpinski Inducted into Ohio High School Coaches Hall of Fame

  1. Karp,

    Congratulations on your induction into the Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. You deserve it. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to make it to the induction. You had an outstanding coaching career and playing for you was a blast. Too bad we couldn’t pull it out in 1992. Take care and enjoy retirement.