Only one South Dakotan was chosen in this year’s Major League Baseball draft. Rapid City Stevens alum and former Post 22 player Cooper Bowman, a sophomore second baseman at the University of Louisville, was chosen in the fourth round by the New York Yankees with the 122nd overall pick.
Bowman hit .293 this past season with Louisville with eight home runs and 20 stolen bases. Bowman was an all-state basketball player at Stevens as well as playing for Post 22, the same as former Athletics, Dodgers and Cardinals infielder Mark Ellis.
This year, there were 20 rounds in the draft. Had there been more there, there could have been the possibility of more South Dakotans being drafted, maybe including former Pierre standout Peyton Zabel, Harrisburg pitcher Chase Mason and Post 22 pitcher Branson Kuehl.