Gateway Indians Hall of Fame

 

Jerry Barnes #1

 

 

Year Elected: 2009

 

Barnes was an instrumental part of the Indians first two championship teams in 2008 and 2010.  As the Indians second baseman in 2006, Barnes won the team MVP award, leading the Tribe with 37 hits and batting over .600 in the playoffs.  His home run was crucial in a 2008 Show-Me Games win over Cairo.

 

In addition to his 2006 MVP award, Barnes won Gold Glove Awards in 2006 and 2010.  Barnes was a North County All-Star in 2006 and 2007.

 

Although he last played for the Indians in 2010, Barnes still ranks high in several offensive categories, most notably second in stolen bases with 81, or 32 more than third-place holder Matt Pomerantz.  Barnes is tied with Drew Sertich for sixth with 134 career hits.  He ranks sixth with 117 runs scored and ninth with 27 doubles.  Along with Jared Sitze, Nate Mabb, and Scott Long, Barnes is tied for sixth with 4 triples.

 

Bob Billham #14

 

 

Year Elected: 20??

 

Bob Billham served as a volunteer assistant coach and occasional fill-in player for the Indians between 2008 and 2012.  Billham was a coach for the first three Indian championship teams.  He and his son Mitch Billham make up the only father-son combination in Tribe history.  Although a fierce competitor, Billham regularly provided words of encouragement to Tribe pitchers.

 

Billham’s dedication extended beyond coaching.  During several Show-Me Games played in sweltering heat, he made a 150-mile round trip home to wash players’ uniforms between games.

 

He is one of only two non-players to be in the Indians Hall of Fame.

 

Mitch Billham #18

 

 

Year Elected: 20??

 

Billham’s passion for baseball was evident as a seventh-grade student at Wright City Middle School.  Noticed by his math teacher, John Brocato, Billham was recruited to the Indians after a successful high school career that included two district championships.  In his time with the Tribe, Billham would add three more championships in 2008, 2010, and 2011.

 

One of his most memorable moments as an Indian came in the 2007 Show-Me Games when Billham belted a game-tying home run in the seventh inning of a game the Tribe went on to win in extras.

 

Although a series of injuries ended Billham’s playing career, he never lost his heart for the game.  Billham was a North County Baseball League All-Star during the Indians first championship season in 2008.

 

Billham, part of the only father-son duo in Indians history with his coaching father Bob, ranks tenth in career RBIs with 84 and is tied with Tyler Schweigert for tenth place with 74 runs scored.

 

John Brocato #14

 

 

Year Elected: 2017

 

Brocato has the unique distinction of being the only member of the Indians Hall of Fame who has never actually played in a game for the team and joined Bob Billham as non-player inductees.  Team founder Justin Coliny brought Brocato aboard as a scorekeeper early on after getting to know him during his sophomore and junior baseball seasons at Wright City High School.

 

The author of the baseball and travel memoir Road Trips, Routes, and Royals, Brocato brought a number of catch phrases such as “let’s make this scorebook a coloring book” or “find the outfield green somewhere”.  However in the 2010 championship, his call of “It’s Rally Time!” became legendary when Brent Buffa’s grand slam led an Indians comeback.  More recently, “It’s Rally Time” was heard on June 14, 2021 at GCS Ballpark before Tyler Schmidt belted a two-run walkoff home run, giving the Indians a 9-8 win over the Thunder.

 

Brocato recruited Indians Hall of Famer Mitch Billham to the team and later invited Zack Fortner, who played on the 2019 championship, to the Tribe.  Before the 2020 season, he saw his former student Ryan Weston join the team after the Longhorns folded.  Now teaching at Fort Zumwalt South High School, Brocato hopes to recruit more new players to the Indians later this decade.

 

Mitch Bryant #28

 

 

Year Elected: 20??

 

Bryant was the first prolific slugger in Indians history, delivering many home runs in the team’s first three seasons.  After taking time off to coach his sons’ baseball teams, Bryant returned to the team in 2012 and made the North County Baseball League All-Star Team.  He has frequently come back for the Show-Me Games, playing for the Indians as recently as 2018.

 

Bryant was a two-time North County All-Star in 2006 and 2012.

 

Along with Matt Jayne and Kevin Briggs, Bryant is one of three Indians players with more than one game with two home runs, accomplishing the feat in 2006 and again in 2012.  Entering the 2021 season, his 11 home runs is tied with Briggs for second all-time.  

 

Brent Buffa #27

 

 

Year Elected: 20??

 

In Game 3 of the 2010 North County Baseball League championship, Buffa produced arguably the greatest moment in 16 seasons of Indians baseball.  Trailing the decisive game entering the sixth inning, Manager Justin Coliny had already requested a call of “Rally Time”.  Buffa provided the rally, belting a grand slam as the Indians went on to defeat Edwardsville 9-8 for their second championship.  Buffa was also frequently called upon to pitch for the 2008 and 2010 championship teams.

 

Buffa is one of several Indians to have played professional baseball.  His career has taken him to Amarillo, Texas through the now-defunct Golden Baseball League and more recently to Italy and Germany.

 

In 2008 Buffa won both the Indians MVP and Cy Young Awards and to this day remains the only player to win both honors in the same season.  He was named to the North County Baseball League All-Star Team in 2008, as well.

 

Among Indians with at least 150 plate appearances, Buffa is the only career .500 hitter, finishing his time with the Tribe at .509.  He is tied with Drew Sertich for fifth in career home runs with 9.  Buffa is tied with Matt Pomerantz for sixth in pitching wins at 11 and tied with Matt Ellis for fifth in career ERA at 2.72.  In addition, he is part of a four-way tie for fifth place with 2 career saves.

 

Justin Coliny #2

 

 

Year Elected: 2013

 

Coliny founded the North County Indians, later renamed the Gateway Indians, in 2005.  Originally a team composed largely of Wright City High School alumni and former players from the Stagger Inn Stags, Coliny built the Indians into a regional powerhouse, first winning championships in the former North County Baseball League in 2008, 2010, and 2011, and in the St. Louis Men’s Baseball League in 2016, 2018, and 2019.  Coliny has been a tireless recruiter who has continued to bring in top-tier men’s league players from across the St. Louis area and nearby Illinois communities.  Coliny retired following his fifth championship in 2018, but returned in 2021 to co-manage the team with Indians veteran Scott Long.

 

Former Indians player Zack Fortner described Coliny, “He is the best manager/recruiter I have met through my years in high school and college.  Justin has and will always be the heart and soul of the Indians.  Without him, there would not be all the championships.”

 

Coliny was selected to league All-Star Teams in 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2012 while managing the All-Star Team in the 2011 and 2013 seasons.

 

Entering the 2021 season, Coliny had played in 352 games, 54 more than any other Indian.  He holds commanding leads in career runs scored (303, 38 ahead of Scott Long) and stolen bases (183, 102 ahead of Jerry Barnes).  Coliny is tied with Zach Speckhals for fourth in doubles (38), third in RBIs (152), and fourth in triples (6).  He ranks second in career hits with 306 and is one of only three players in Indians history with over 300 career hits.

 

Brent Haas #8

 

 

Year Elected: 2010

 

Haas was one of the Wright City High School alumni who founded the Indians in 2005 and played for championship teams in 2008 and 2011.  Early in the 2008 playoffs, with the Indians facing elimination, Haas singled to begin a seventh-inning comeback against the Browns, steal a base, and scored on Matt Jayne’s walkoff single.  A few days later the Indians would defeat the Aces for their first championship.

 

Haas batted .397 in the 2006 season and was selected to the All-Star Team.  For his career, Haas finished with a .347 average, 119 hits, 62 runs, and 75 RBIs.  Despite having played his last game with the Indians in 2011, Haas still ranks tenth in career stolen bases with 24.

Occasionally used as a pitcher, Haas recorded four wins on the mound and struck out 50 hitters.

 

Derringer Huff #99

 

 

Year Elected: 2020

 

Huff joined the Indians in the 2017 season and immediately joined Shawn Spainhoward in forming a 1A-1B top of the pitching rotation.  In his rookie season, the former South Dakota State hurler finished 5-0 while striking out 73 batters in 46 innings.  Huff pitched a complete-game win in the semifinals of the MSBL tournament.

 

He followed up his initial campaign with 79 strikeouts in only 47 innings.  Once again Huff pitched a complete-game win in the MSBL semifinals, pointing the Indians toward their fifth championship.

 

Huff won the Cy Young Award in 2017 and shared the honor with Spainhoward in 2018.  Huff was named an All-Star in 2017.

 

Huff retired in early 2021 after injuries abbreviated his 2019 and 2020 seasons.  Before retiring, Huff ranked sixth in Indians history with 155 career strikeouts.  He retired with a perfect 10-0 record, tying for eighth with Matt Ellis in career wins.  He joins Scott Long, Zach Speckhals, and Jordan Savage as the lone Indians with at least three career saves.  In addition, he sports a career ERA of 1.89, good for third all time.