Kupets enters Fairmont State Athletics Hall of Fame
Dan Kupets graduated from Brownsville Area High School and remains in Fayette County, but Fairmont, W.Va., has been his second home several times in his adult life.
Kupets was a four-year baseball letterman from 1973-76 at Fairmont State, where he established himself as one of the most accomplished hitters in program history. Kupets earned All-WVIAC (West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) honors in each of his final three seasons with the Falcons. He was named the 1976 WVIAC Player of the Year in 1976 after leading the conference in batting average at .444. He led the league in RBIs with 20 and had 45 total bases to top the conference. Kupets was 14th in the nation in batting average.
Kupets was the head baseball coach at Fairmont State from 1984-86, which included a 14-win season, third-place finish in the WVIAC and the program’s first WVIAC tournament appearance. Kupets returned 32 years later as an assistant and hitting coach for three seasons from 2016-18. Seven different Falcons earned All-MEC (Mountain East Conference) honors during Kupets’ tenure as hitting instructor.
Kupets is a baseball lifer, as he continued playing until he was 58-years-old and coached high school and other levels of baseball in the last four decades. Kupets was a longtime player, school and official of the Fayette County Baseball League (FCBL). Kupets was president of the FCBL while also serving as manager and player for many different clubs in the league.
Kupets was the head coach at Fairmont Senior High School from 1799-83 prior to his first coaching stint with the Falcons. He served as an assistant coach at Brownsville for two seasons before guiding the baseball team at Geibel Catholic High School for 14 seasons. Kupets was also the head baseball coach at Frazier for several years.
Kupets wasn’t expecting the call to be enshrined in his alma mater’s Hall of Fame, but his emeritus selection is something he will never forget.
“For being 72-years-old and getting the call, it was pretty surprising,” Kupets said. “How do you put it into words? You don’t think about being in a Hall of Fame when you’re playing, and I played until I was 58. It’s been 14 years since I stopped playing. I am glad they don’t forget about the wood bat guys. I started playing from the age of 11, and it was always wood. The stuff that they are using nowadays is mind boggling. It’s way different, but still the same game in some respects.”
Kupets wasn’t sure where he was going to attend college, but he is glad he selected to play for the Falcons.
“I had good times at Fairmont State,” Kupets said. “I didn’t even know where I was going to school until it started in three weeks. I still go down to Fairmont every now and then. I was going 150 times a year when I was coaching as the hitting instructor, but it got to be too much. I run into a lot of familiar faces down there. It is nice going back.”
Kupets was accompanied to his induction ceremony on Oct. 2 during Homecoming Weekend at Fairmont State by his wife, Joyce Berkley Kupets; daughters, Kara Kupets Wolfe and Katie Kupets White; son, Casey Kupets; daughter-in-law, Tara Sessano Kupets; and son-in-law, David Wolfe.
Kupets enjoys watching his grandchildren play and spending time with them. He admits to having trouble watching baseball because of the way the game has changed.
“There is no more hit-and-run now in baseball,” Kupets said. “Nobody even knows how to do it. We would stress getting someone on base, moving them over and driving them in. To me, that’s baseball, and it’s hard for me to watch it.”