RAPID CITY, S.D. – A whopping eight Post 22 seniors signed on to play college baseball Tuesday night at a ceremony at Fitzgerald Stadium
We’ll hear from all eight Hardhats in the next week, but for now we’ll start with Dawson Inhofer and McCoy Rippentrop.
Inhofer signed on the dotted line with Iowa Central Community College. He’s been an asset in both the infield and on the mound for Post 22. He’s hit .307 in two seasons and compiled a 1.89 ERA out of the bullpen.
The shortstop says it’s rewarding to see all his hard work pay off like this.
“Think back over all the years of playing baseball and traveling everywhere, yeah, it’s great to finally find somewhere and play at the next level,” Inhofer says.
Rippentrop will be heading south to pitch at Dodge City Community College. The Hardhats starter is 4-0 in his career with Post 22 and has 32 strikeouts in 30 innings.
He’s also shown a lot of dedication to his team, commuting from Hot Springs for practices and games.
McCoy explains why he chose to pitch for the Conquistadors, “Dodge City was the right fit because I really liked the coaching staff down there and they’re doing a lot, they’re doing a great job with the program right now. I like the school as well, they got a good business degree program and great town, and great people there.”
Post 22 begins postseason play Wednesday night against Spearfish in a best of three series.
Brian Mueller has been the weekend sports anchor at NewsCenter1 since January 2025.