BRING ON BASEBALL

SAVE THE DATE

Friday, March 31, 2023

Club 71 at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium

Kickoff the 2023 season with Brookings Friends of Baseball

Questions: BringOnBaseball@gmail.com

Payton Theodosopoulos, a member of the Brookings Post 74 Bandits Senior Legion team this past season, was recognized by Brookings Friends of Baseball as the inaugural Bob Shelden Award for Excellence recipient.

The award is the highest honor given to a student-athlete in Friends of Baseball and recognizes any player from 13U through senior legion who best exemplifies the organization’s values of being committed to reaching their full potential in school, being a good citizen and role model for others in the community, and participating in Friends of Baseball with the understanding it is for the betterment of the program before themselves.

“I am very excited for Payton to receive this award and forever be honored by Brookings Friends of Baseball,” said Carter Roach, senior legion head coach. “He exemplified everything you want in a teammate and a leader within your program. He was someone that we could count on when we needed him in the lineup, but more importantly he was there for his teammates. Payton was one of the first players to the field and one of the last players to leave the field. He had that type of work ethic and that was something every coach loves to see. He certainly had an important role and a significant impact on the success of our team this season.”

Theodosopoulos played the 2021 and 2022 seasons with the senior legion team. He primarily played in the outfield where he saw time in both right and left field for one of the state’s best outfields. He posted a .968 fielding percentage this past season and appeared in 13.1 innings on the mound, helping the Bandits to a 30-13-1 overall record and the No. 1 overall seed in the South Dakota Class A playoffs. The Bandits reached the state tournament for the first time since 2017.  

Other nominees for the Bob Shelden Award for Excellence included Addison Ronning from the Post 74 junior legion team and Wes Van-Ede from the 13U Bombers Maroon.

Front Row (l to r): Coy Friedrich (Embrace Family Dentistry), Nash Billings (Brookings Radio, Juniors), Ayden McKane (Cubby’s Sports Bar and Grill), Liam Diercks (Brookings Dumpster), Cody Olson (The Jackrabbits, Juniors), Louis Yoshida (Bank Star Financial), Desmond Eberhart (Man Cave).

Back Row (l to r): Senior Legion Head Coach Carter Roach, Shinji Numata (Rounds Construction), Jaxon Steen (Homes by Pitts), Trevor Lesher (Porter’s Bait Farm), Eli Ellsworth (Culligan Water), Jacob Romsa (Kiwanis Club), Landon Mosley (The Jackrabbits, Majors), Miles Hahn (Brook Dak Properties).

(l to r): Harrison Bunkers (Prussman Construction), Lincoln Helmbolt (Brookings Radio, Majors), Hayden Smidt (Great Shots, Majors), Brenden Kuehl (Great Shots, Juniors)

The Brookings Post 74 Junior Legion Baseball Team finished second at the 2022 state tournament . The Chutes earned their way to semifinals where they defeated Watertown Post 17, 9-8, before dropping the championship game Sioux Falls Post 15 East.

The complete tournament bracket can be found online.