SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – The Mitchell Baseball Association said it is happy with the recent plea agreements for the six baseball players charged with rape. The players were members of the American Legion baseball team when the alleged incident happened.
Tim Smith, a media representative and board member for the Mitchell Baseball Association (MBA), told KELOLAND News the organization thought the six players shouldn’t have been charged with rape in the first place.
“We understand the seriousness of the charges but we felt all along that the rape charges were, how should I put it, extreme,” Smith said. “Did the boys do something wrong? Yes. Should they be punished? Yes. Should they have been charged with rape? We felt no in the first place and I think the prosecutor has come to that decision as well and led to the plea agreements that you see now.”
Smith was the former play-by-play announcer for Mitchell Baseball and has worked at a South Dakota radio station for over 45 years.
Prosecutors are not able to speak with the media about the cases as a gag order was put in place, according to a June 13 email from Katy Urban, Pennington County State’s Attorney’s public information officer. Prosecutors will presumably be able to talk about the case after sentencing, which is scheduled for August.
The Mitchell Baseball Association is the home of the Mitchell Kernels high school baseball team and the American Legion Post 18 baseball team, according to its website.
The investigation involves six baseball players allegedly involved with two rapes in a Rapid City hotel room during the summer of 2023 when the team was in the city for Legion baseball.
In August 2023, the Pennington County State’s Attorney filed charges against six players: Hudson Michael Haley, Landon William Waddell, Peyton Douglas Mandel, Lincoln Charles Bates, Carter Ryan Miller and Karter Marcus Sibson. All six were charged with second-degree rape and aiding and abetting second degree rape.
Bates was the first to accept a plea deal in June 2024, followed by Miller and Mandel a week later. The final three players, Haley, Waddell and Sibson, also plead guilty to one count of accessory to a felony on Monday. In exchange for their pleas, rape charges will be dropped for all six former players.
“I would say that we’re certainly pleased that there’s finally some resolution to the cases and we’re extremely pleased that it appears there’ll be a way for these boys to have any charges eventually extinguished from their records if the probation period is met,” Smith said.
Teams still suspended from legion play, awaits sentencing
In January 2024, The South Dakota American Legion suspended the Legion team in Mitchell until further notice. On Wednesday, Department Adjutant CP Van Delist told KELOLAND News that the department would not have a meeting to discuss the team until after sentencing.
“At that time when it’s all adjudicated, that’s when the department will come back together and kind of determine what the path forward is,” Van Delist said.
Smith said that while the Legion has suspended their involvement with Mitchell baseball, all the players on the Legion team not charged were able to find ways to play baseball this summer. Players under 16 joined the 16 and under team and players over 16 formed an amateur team called the Mitchell Aces.
“The High School Activities Association also allowed Mitchell Baseball to have a team in the high school ranks,” Smith said. “So really, it has been only the American Legion that has put the penalty on Mitchell baseball for this year.”
Smith believes the Legion will reinstate the team for next year.
Van Delist said the organization as a whole, which has more than 50 teams across the state, has implemented control measures to mitigate any future risk. All coaches, managers and players over 18 years old will be required to complete background checks and sexual abuse training.
“We’re not just saying ‘Hey, this is not serious,’ we’re making sure that as an organization, we’re putting the best interests of all kids first,” Van Delist said. “We have been very diligent this year in making sure that our background checks are complete and the sexual abuse training is being completed by all those involved.”
In April, a judge found Mitchell baseball coach Luke Norden not guilty of a felony and not reporting child abuse. A charge against Mitchell Baseball Association former board member Jeremy Borgan was also dismissed.
