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<\/p>\nMITCHELL \u2014 There\u2019s that baseball movie that famously claims there\u2019s no crying in baseball.<\/p>\n
Saturday at Cadwell Park was a worthwhile exception to that.<\/p>\n
It was an emotional afternoon in honoring Winner\/Colome\u2019s late baseball players Chandler Bakley and Reed Harter before their Pheasants opened the state tournament, paying tribute to the men who died in a January car crash in western South Dakota.<\/p>\n
Both were longtime players for the Pheasants amateur baseball team, frequently batting next to each other in the lineup and known for being fierce competitors and committed team players. <\/p>\n
Following a moment of silence, the players\u2019 wives, Mikayla Harter and Angie Bakley, threw out the Pheasants\u2019 ceremonial first pitches prior to the game. The men were commended as \u201coutstanding sons, husbands, uncles, mentors and friends, \u2026 and for being incredible at drinking Busch Light.\u201d<\/p>\n
In that light, the wives appropriately toasted the two baseballs before throwing their pitches, each of them caught by the players\u2019 brothers, Zach Harter and Tyler Bakley.<\/p>\n
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From left, Mikayla Harter and Angie Bakley ‘toast’ their baseballs prior to ceremonial first pitches in tribute to their late husbands Reed Harter and Chandler Bakley during the Class B state amateur baseball tournament on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026 at Cadwell Park.<\/p>\n
Landon Dierks \/ Mitchell Republic<\/p>\n
It was a sentimental moment to close a difficult season for the Pheasants, who lost two men who personified all that is great about amateur baseball.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a long year. It\u2019s been a hard season,\u201d Winner\/Colome\u2019s Austin Richey said, who serves as one of the team\u2019s co-managers. \u201cYou can tell just statewide, they are people that everyone really loved. And for us, we\u2019ve missed having them in our lineup. Bigger than that, they\u2019re just guys that we miss having around.\u201d<\/p>\n
Teams throughout amateur baseball this season have honored the two late players, with decals on batting helmets and the players\u2019 initials on hats. South Dakota Umpires Association umpires have worn caps that paid tribute to Harter, who umpired youth games in recent years, all season. Dozens of fans on hand for Saturday\u2019s games wore shirts with various tributes to Bakley and Harter. Sunshine League players from all eight teams have shirts that feature all of the teams and are dedicated to the two players.<\/p>\n
The Harter and Bakley families also participated in an on-field ceremony on Saturday in presenting the Chandler Bakley and Reed Harter \u2018Heart of the Game\u2019 memorial scholarship, which went to Winner\/Colome amateur player and Dakota Wesleyan University player Landon Calhoon.<\/p>\n
Winner\/Colome\u2019s game was the second contest of the day. The Hartford\/Humboldt Gamecocks played in the first game, and Cam Quigley is a key player for the Gamecocks. Quigley was a passenger in the crash that killed Harter and Bakley. All three were past Dakota Wesleyan University baseball teammates.<\/p>\n
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From left, South Dakota Amateur Baseball Association district commissioner Galen Guthmiller presents Hartford\/Humboldt Gamecocks player Cam Quigley with the Mark Mehlhaf Memorial Award as the state’s Comeback Player of the Year on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026 at Cadwell Park in Mitchell. <\/p>\n
Landon Dierks \/ Mitchell Republic<\/p>\n
Quigley suffered a serious hand injury that required reattaching a finger to his hand. He was honored Saturday as the state\u2019s Comeback Player of the Year. He credited baseball as being a key motivator in his recovery, doing what he thinks his friends would have wanted him to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo everything for them,\u201d Quigley told the crowd after accepting the award. \u201cKeep showing up, keep playing, keep going hard. I\u2019m a little choked up, but keep showing up for them because they\u2019d want us to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harter and Bakley were two of the best players that amateur baseball in the state has to offer, good men who played the game the right way, earning the respect of their teammates and their peers. Strong bonds are built in a sport like amateur baseball, where players frequently play against each other for many years and begin to know their opponents well both on and off the field.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I saw that we were playing in the first game and then Winner\/Colome was going to be in the game after us, I thought that was a pretty fitting thing,\u201d Gamecocks\u2019 manager Chad Morrison said. \u201cReed and Chandler meant a lot to a lot of people here and around South Dakota.\u201d<\/p>\n
The game didn\u2019t go Winner\/Colome\u2019s way, as the powerhouse Dell Rapids Mudcats emerged with an 11-3 win, advancing to the second round.<\/p>\n
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Winner\/Colome’s Landon Calhoon accepts the Chandler Bakley and Reed Harter \u2018Heart of the Game\u2019 memorial scholarship from Winner\/Colome teammate Zach Harter during the Class B state amateur baseball tournament on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026 at Cadwell Park.<\/p>\n
Landon Dierks \/ Mitchell Republic<\/p>\n
All season, Winner\/Colome has honored both Harter and Bakley on the backs of their hats but also longtime manager Kevin Graesser, a dedicated amateur baseball player and manager for the Pheasants who died following a battle with cancer in 2021. The numbers 3, 15 and 27 are memorialized on their hats, and the logo says \u201cLegends never die.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe lineup will always be different without the dynamic pair in it, but if you look hard enough, they are still here,\u201d public address announcer Joe Van Goor read from the team\u2019s dedication for the first pitch. \u201cThe Pheasants lost two of the greats, but (the team) likes to imagine it this way. Graesser on the mound, Chuck Bakley catching and Reed Harter at second base, waiting for the rest of the Pheasants to eventually join them on God\u2019s greatest baseball field, so they can all play together again.\u201d<\/p>\n
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