On Saturday, the South Dakota Amateur Baseball Association held its annual meeting in Mitchell. At that meeting, Garretson BlueJays coach Austin Vanhove was honored as Coach of the Year for District 7B.
Vanhove, who has officially been coaching the BlueJays for two years, successfully coached the team to State Tournament in 2022 after a successful season, where they were State Runner-Up.
The BlueJays play every summer starting in late May, and invite any interested, local ball players age 18+ to join.
A quick run-down of Coach Vanhove's successes, according to the BlueJays Facebook Page:
- Recruited Aaron Labrie, the lefty who threw like Randy Johnson.
- Kept Dustin Steckler from joining a lame Dells team.
- Kept both Bonte’s from killing each other during the season.
- Taught Trey Buck how to hit beezos.
- Gave Brady Debates the name Brady Deballs.
-Kept Jack sparo from stealing the other teams’ bats and balls.
- Made Legion kid, Tayson Swatek, into a man.
- Figured out Joey Fitz is a lot better at second than third.
- Let Jesse Brockhouse miss nearly every game and still start at state and crush it.
- Brought Travis Williamson out of retirement to help coach and crush baseballs.
- Let Sam Q play second and pinch run one inning.
- Never had anyone cut off Scott Splett’s throws coming into home.
At that same meeting, the site for 2024's Amateur Baseball State Tournament was decided to again be held in Mitchell at Cadwell Park. The association also admitted two new teams to its membership, the Parkston Devil Rays and the Ramona Express.
Photo: 2022 BlueJays team. (photo submitted)
