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Jun. 23—LETCHER, S.D. — For the first time in decades, the community of Letcher is being represented by an American Legion baseball team in 2026.
During the summer of 2022, summer baseball programming in the town of approximately 160 residents, located 15 miles northwest of Mitchell, was revived with the introduction of two teener baseball teams. Four years after the debut of the Letcher Hawks at the 14-and-under and 16-and-under levels, the program has progressed to now field a varsity-level Legion team.
Andy Ettswold, a coach for the Hawks' Legion team who was also involved with getting the teeners teams up and running in 2022, said that Letcher had not had a Legion team since at least he was in high school as a class of 2000 graduate. He estimated that the absence dated back to the early 1990s, if not longer.
"It just feels good that we can give the kids a place to continue playing because they want to continue after the junior level, and this is kind of the last step," Ettswold said. "We talked with the Letcher Legion and Woonsocket Legion, and they were both on board, so we got it going."
Officially representing both Letcher Post 93 and Woonsocket Post 29, the Hawks' roster is primarily composed of rising seniors and recently graduated class of 2026 seniors from Sanborn Central and Woonsocket High Schools. Many members of the inaugural Hawks Legion have been with the program since the inception of the teener teams in 2022.
The introduction of a Legion team was particularly impactful for Bryce Larson and Payton Uecker, both 2025 graduates who haven't yet aged out of Legion eligibility. Without elevating to the Legion level, the pair of super seniors wouldn't have been able to play their final season of baseball for the Hawks this summer.
"I just love seeing the community come out and support us," said Bryce Larson, an original member of the Hawks 14U team from 2022. "Letcher is a tiny town, but the lights shine just as bright there. People are always talking about going to the games and how good the burgers are at the field. We always have a good turnout, and the community truly shows up for this team."
In their debut season, the Hawks are off to a 1-5 start, but given that the lone win to date is the program's first ever in the Legion ranks, the 13-7 triumph over familiar foes from Wessington Springs on June 17 made for a special moment.
In almost all other sports, Sanborn Central/Woonsocket and Springs maintain a rivalry, and for the football season each fall, they come together as the WWSSC program. That complex relationship added to what was going to be a memorable occasion, regardless of the opponent.
"It's always fun to play against your friends and so many people you know. It's one of those games where if you get a base runner against them, you're talking the whole time," Larson said. "To get the first win against them was really cool."
On top of being a first-year Legion outfit, the Hawks aren't afforded the head start to the summer baseball season that having a high school baseball team provides. Though the team hasn't quite kept pace with their preseason goal to challenge for a winning record in the early stages, Larson said the Hawks feel like they are improving as the year progresses and hope to pick up their success as July approaches.
"We always say that we might not be the best baseball team, but we definitely have the most fun," Larson said. "Just getting out and playing baseball with this group of guys makes it enjoyable."
According to Ettswold, the Hawks have embraced all the challenges of being a new program while looking to raise their level of play, and the future of the program is likely to benefit from this first-year team's efforts.
"We didn't really set any expectations in terms of winning and losing. Would we like to make the state tournament? Yeah, of course, but we know it's going to be tough," Ettswold said. "Our kids are there to have fun, and they want to compete, too. There's no give-up in those kids. They'll battle to the very end. We just want to be competitive through to the regions and see what happens."
Above all, Larson and his teammates are most proud that they've helped establish a path toward playing varsity-level baseball for up-and-coming younger players in the area.
"Watching the little kids grow and the numbers of players that go out for baseball grow, I think that sits in all of our minds," Larson said. "It's really, really cool to know that we kind of started something and just see the program where it's at now."
Continue reading...
During the summer of 2022, summer baseball programming in the town of approximately 160 residents, located 15 miles northwest of Mitchell, was revived with the introduction of two teener baseball teams. Four years after the debut of the Letcher Hawks at the 14-and-under and 16-and-under levels, the program has progressed to now field a varsity-level Legion team.
Andy Ettswold, a coach for the Hawks' Legion team who was also involved with getting the teeners teams up and running in 2022, said that Letcher had not had a Legion team since at least he was in high school as a class of 2000 graduate. He estimated that the absence dated back to the early 1990s, if not longer.
"It just feels good that we can give the kids a place to continue playing because they want to continue after the junior level, and this is kind of the last step," Ettswold said. "We talked with the Letcher Legion and Woonsocket Legion, and they were both on board, so we got it going."
Officially representing both Letcher Post 93 and Woonsocket Post 29, the Hawks' roster is primarily composed of rising seniors and recently graduated class of 2026 seniors from Sanborn Central and Woonsocket High Schools. Many members of the inaugural Hawks Legion have been with the program since the inception of the teener teams in 2022.
The introduction of a Legion team was particularly impactful for Bryce Larson and Payton Uecker, both 2025 graduates who haven't yet aged out of Legion eligibility. Without elevating to the Legion level, the pair of super seniors wouldn't have been able to play their final season of baseball for the Hawks this summer.
"I just love seeing the community come out and support us," said Bryce Larson, an original member of the Hawks 14U team from 2022. "Letcher is a tiny town, but the lights shine just as bright there. People are always talking about going to the games and how good the burgers are at the field. We always have a good turnout, and the community truly shows up for this team."
In their debut season, the Hawks are off to a 1-5 start, but given that the lone win to date is the program's first ever in the Legion ranks, the 13-7 triumph over familiar foes from Wessington Springs on June 17 made for a special moment.
In almost all other sports, Sanborn Central/Woonsocket and Springs maintain a rivalry, and for the football season each fall, they come together as the WWSSC program. That complex relationship added to what was going to be a memorable occasion, regardless of the opponent.
"It's always fun to play against your friends and so many people you know. It's one of those games where if you get a base runner against them, you're talking the whole time," Larson said. "To get the first win against them was really cool."
On top of being a first-year Legion outfit, the Hawks aren't afforded the head start to the summer baseball season that having a high school baseball team provides. Though the team hasn't quite kept pace with their preseason goal to challenge for a winning record in the early stages, Larson said the Hawks feel like they are improving as the year progresses and hope to pick up their success as July approaches.
"We always say that we might not be the best baseball team, but we definitely have the most fun," Larson said. "Just getting out and playing baseball with this group of guys makes it enjoyable."
According to Ettswold, the Hawks have embraced all the challenges of being a new program while looking to raise their level of play, and the future of the program is likely to benefit from this first-year team's efforts.
"We didn't really set any expectations in terms of winning and losing. Would we like to make the state tournament? Yeah, of course, but we know it's going to be tough," Ettswold said. "Our kids are there to have fun, and they want to compete, too. There's no give-up in those kids. They'll battle to the very end. We just want to be competitive through to the regions and see what happens."
Above all, Larson and his teammates are most proud that they've helped establish a path toward playing varsity-level baseball for up-and-coming younger players in the area.
"Watching the little kids grow and the numbers of players that go out for baseball grow, I think that sits in all of our minds," Larson said. "It's really, really cool to know that we kind of started something and just see the program where it's at now."
Continue reading...
