SIOUX FALLS – Former Chamberlain standouts Derek West and Cole Knippling and Cubs’ coach Phil Johnson have been named in the inaugural class of the South Dakota High School Baseball Association Hall of Fame.
West played for Chamberlain at shortstop and third base from 2002-2004, started all three of those years, and was all-state three times, hitting .481 in his senior year. Chamberlain made the state championship game in 2002. West later walked on at Southwest Minnesota State and earned All-American honors as a senior.
Knippling played from 2000-2002 at first base and was an all-state player as the Cubs made the state tournament all those seasons. Knippling later went to Mount Marty for basketball, then switched to baseball. He briefly played professionally for Amarillo of the United League.
Johnson was a founding member of the SDHSBA board. He played collegiately at Minnesota.
Other inductees are Layne Somsen, the former Yankton star pitcher who briefly pitched in the majors with the Reds in 2016, Reid Meierkort of Vermillion, Jake Adams of Brandon Valley, Jason Schmidt of Mitchell, Dusty Coleman of Sioux Falls O’Gorman, Tyson Gau of SMVHE, Jack VanLeur of Brandon Valley, Connor Schaefbauer of Sioux Falls O’Gorman, Robb McClemans of Brookings, Bryce Ahrendt of Tri-Valley Co-op, Jared Donohue of Winner/Colome, Landon Busch of Brookings, Drew Heithoff of Yankton, Justin Kline of Aberdeen, the 2008 Aberdeen team that won a fourth Class A title in five seasons, the St. Thomas More 2010 team that won its second straight class B championship with a 22-0 record, longtime player and coach Bud Jenniges, Tri-Valley coach J.R. Yde, former Vermillion coach Jason Gault, inaugural SDHSBA president Brad Schramm, and former high school league organizer Lyle Smith.
