MITCHELL — Brad Tucker of Rapid City is being inducted into the South Dakota Baseball Umpires Association Hall of Fame in 2026 along with honorary inductee Paul Karst of Peever. Tucker and Karst will be recognized at the South Dakota State Amateur Baseball Tournament Aug. 5-16 in Mitchell and during the South Dakota Amateur Baseball Association Hall of Fame banquet scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 1 at Flandreau.
Here’s more on the inductees:
Brad Tucker
Tucker grew up on a ranch near Wood and graduated from Wood High School in 1976 and Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell in 1981, where he excelled in football and helped lead the team to the 1976 South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference championship. He later earned master’s degrees in education administration and physical education from South Dakota State University and a specialist degree from the University of South Dakota in 1995.
He coached football at Wood and New Underwood from 1982-1996 before moving to Rapid City and becoming a multi-sport official in basketball, track and field, football and baseball. Wood spent 32 years in education, including 26 as a principal, before retiring. Officiating has been a priority in Tucker’s life for many years. His love of sports, appreciation of competition and dedication to youth have driven his desire to make a difference in the lives of young people. He continues to serve as an official in football and track. He is grateful for the friendships he has developed with other umpires, coaches and the athletes themselves. Tucker was involved in baseball umpiring from 1999 through 2023. When scheduling umpires became an issue in the Black Hills area, he decided to organize all Rapid City area teams and all region umpires and used Arbiter to schedule teams from Rapid City, Sturgis and Spearfish at several levels.
Paul Karst
Karst’s association with baseball and umpiring dates back a number of decades. From 1965-67, he played and umpired baseball while on serving in the U.S. military in Vietnam and Okinawa. He also played baseball in Ghana, Morocco and Germany. From 1967-76, Karst umpired for Northern State University in Aberdeen while also playing, coaching and umpiring in Groton. He played and coached the Ferney amateur baseball team from 1974-76 and also coached the Groton American Legion Baseball team (1976-2000) and Groton amateur baseball team for many years. Karst also umpired many other games and many state Teener tournaments during those years. He also spent a number of years as a commissioner for South Dakota American Legion Baseball and was inducted into the South Dakota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2000, he retired from baseball.
S.D. Baseball Umpires Association Hall of Fame
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Past Inductees — Darrell Anderson, Don Baker, Glen Baker Jr., Jack Beaird, Randy Bertram, Steve Bertrand, Gene Bierle, Derold Bogenrief, Gardon Brusie, Rod Burke, Ernest J. Carlson, Everett Carlson, Edmund Carter, Barney Clemens, Harold Croisant, Gene Danielson, Bob Deming, Stan Evans, Jim Fitzgerald, Jerry Frailing, Eddie F. Fredette, Bob Forsyth, Gene Furness, Geof Furness, Melvin Geist, Robert Grossbuesch, Jeff Gudahl, Pat Harnett, Fran Hedrick, Cliff Hicks, Larry Hoff, Lee Hopkins, Marvin Humpal, T. Archie Ireland, James Klassen, Dan Klinkhammer, Jim Kostel, Larry Lempke, Tom Long, Tom Mauer, Bob Maxwell, Terry Mayes, Glen McCready, Jim McDowell, Ben Keague, Al Meile, Duane “Stub” Miller, Dean Minder, Lawrence Mohr, Chester Neal, Allen Olson, Brad Peters, Eldon “Eldy” Peters, Ralph Peterson, Ronnie Peterson, Harry Pressler, Jim Ricketts Sr., Mike Ridgeway, Richard Rockafellow, Dick Rudell, Harvey Schaefer, Joe Schlimgen, Richard Schnaible, Emil Schnittgrund, Brad Schramm, Dave Selchert, Steve Selchert, Harrold V. Settje, Marvin Settje, Art Skaggs, Steve Solem, Chester Sorenson, Victor Sosa, Mike Stadem, Joe Stahl, Arthur Suess, Harold Tapplett, Francis Tennyson, Louis Thury, Fran Tomscha, C.L. Trainor, Arthur Tullis, Jim Vernon, Kermit Wahl, Roy Wahl, Ted Wahl, Joe Walter, Jim Waterbury, Dale Weick, Kerry Wenbourne, Mike West, George White, Joe Wolf, Monte Wollman and Frank Wuring.
- Honorary Members — Bob Altenburg, Arlin “Andy” Anderson, Larry Anderson, Ray Antonen, Rusty Antonen, Bob Beattie, Bob Benson, Jay Bentz, Gerald “Red” Bickett, Lee Bjorkman, Don Bowling, Mark & Donna Brewer, Bob Brooks, Dave Brooks, Bob Coyle, Gary Croon, Keith Cutler, Dan DesLauriers, Bill Ernster, Scott Fiedler, Vernon Flanigan, Wilbur Foss, Dave Gassman, Jon Graves, Don Greenfield, Clayton Gropper, Elwin Grow, Galen Guthmiller, Henry Haas, Scott Healy, Maynard Hemp, Mike Henriksen, Brian Hildebrandt, Ron Hoffman, Ken Ireland, Harve Johnston, Jim Johnston, John Kirchner, Dal Lavin, Larry McKenney, Robert “Doc” Mead, Jim Meader, Milt Mehlhaf, Ron Miller, George Nagel, Danny Olson, LeRoy Perman, Dave Ploof, Ted Poncelet, Ray Roth, Randy Sabers, Wilbur Saukerson, John Sayles, Ray Scherschligt, Moe Shevlin, Kirk Sorenson, Dr. Tom Stotz, Dan Sudbeck, Herb Sundall, Buck Timmins, Joe Van Goor, Earl Van Ningen, Denny Warrick and Dale Weber.
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