This spring will mark the 17th year of High School Baseball in South Dakota. Originally organized in 2001 and administered by Sioux Empire Baseball Association, the South Dakota High School Baseball Association has been formally organized since 2004. It’s first president and executive director, Brad Schramm, has retired after 12 years at the helm.
In October, Brad Schramm formally announced his retirement as president and executive director at the fall meeting of the South Dakota High School Baseball Assocation. At the annual meeting of SDHSBA in December, the reigns were handed over to Jason Gault (Vermillion, SD) as the new President of High School Baseball and Dane Yde (Sioux Falls, SD) as the new Executive Director.
Schramm is lifelong Winner resident and supporter of baseball. He has run the operations of the SDHSBA since it was formally organized in 2004 when he was voted president and administrator by the initial board of directors. He served 4 terms before electing retirement this year. Schramm was one of many individuals that spearheaded high school baseball’s humble beginnings in the state. He helped form the Winner-Colome cooperative team that most recently claimed the Class B crown last season. He has also served on the South Dakota Umpires Association for a number of years, and remains the secretary of the organization.
Jason Gault assumes the duties of president of the organization and will set the direction for the organization moving forward. Gault served as Vermillion High School’s head coach since the inaugural season of high school baseball before turning over the duties this past year. His team claimed the Class B state title in the 2012 season. Gault has also served on the SDHSBA board since 2009. He currently serves as the Technology Coordinator for the Vermillion School District.
Dane Yde has taken the role of executive director, managing the day to day duties of the organization. Yde has been involved in baseball since its inception, as he was part of the first class of students who were able to play baseball in all 4 years of their high school years. He has served as a coach and then board member over the past 8 years with SDHSBA. His father, J.R. Yde, was one of the many individuals (along with Schramm) that helped get High School baseball off the ground, and coached one of the charter teams in 2001 and 2002.
The first official season of High School Baseball was 2001 with 35 member schools. This season, over 80 schools will be represented through SDHSBA spring baseball. There are 16 teams competing the Class A division and 36 teams in the class B division.
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