Jay Thompson, Bob Karnes To Be Inducted Into Southern Illinois High School Coaches Hall Of Fame

From the Southern Illinois Miners

The Southern Illinois Miners announce that Harrisburg baseball coach Jay Thompson and former Du Quoin head football coach Bob Karnes will be the next two coaches to join the Southern Illinois High School Coaches Hall of Fame, presented by Southern Illinois Healthcare, in a pregame on-field ceremony on Tuesday, August 8th before the Miners take on the Normal CornBelters at 7:05 p.m.

Thompson, who has coached Harrisburg High School baseball for 30 seasons, is the first high school baseball coach to join the ranks of the Southern Illinois High School Coaches Hall of Fame. He took over the head coaching job in the 1981-82 school year, and seven years later led the Bulldogs to the Class AA State Championship in 1989. Thompson’s first stint in the dugout would last until 1992 and include back-to-back second-place state tournament finishes in 1991 and 1992, but he returned to the school in 1994 and would coach for another ten consecutive seasons, helping the Bulldogs to another second-place finish at the state tournament in 2003 as well as a fourth-place finish in 1995.

Thompson would also coach the baseball team at Harrisburg in 2006, sandwiched between five seasons that were coached by his brother, Joe, and he then returned to the dugout as head coach in 2010, where he has remained up until the present day. Overall, Thompson has amassed over 700 career wins, ranking inside the state’s top-15 all-time, and at the close of the 2016 season owned a record of 720 wins and 211 losses for a win percentage of .773, winning 20 IHSA Regional titles and eight Sectional championships. He was also inducted into the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1997, with Harrisburg’s home baseball field named after him last year.
For Karnes, he becomes the second Du Quoin football coach to be inducted into the Southern Illinois High School Coaches Hall of Fame, joining his successor Al Martin who was honored on July 25th. Karnes himself had a 20-year run at Du Quoin beginning in 1968, and his first team ran the table, going 10-0 to start what would be one of the region’s all-time great careers. In his 20 seasons, Karnes’ teams finished with a winning record 17 times, winning five conference championships and finishing unbeaten twice. His teams qualified for the state playoffs in his final four seasons from 1984-87 and were state quarterfinalists in 1987, semifinalists in 1985 and state runners-up in 1986. Overall, Karnes went 136-59-4 as head coach of the Indians for a .683 winning percentage, and was inducted into the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1988.
Tickets for Tuesday night’s game can be purchased online at southernillinoisminers.com, over the phone at (618) 998-8499 or at the Rent One Park box office.
The Southern Illinois Miners are the 2016 Frontier League West Division Champions, the 2014 and 2015 Frontier League East Division Champions and the 2012 Frontier League Champions. They have been awarded the Frontier League Organization of the Year award three times since their inception, and also set a new Frontier League attendance record in 2007, their inaugural season. For ticket information, contact the Rent One Park box office at (618) 998-8499. For any additional information, visit our website at www.southernillinoisminers.com.