Fitzgerald Stadium in Rapid City, South Dakota, home of Post 22 Baseball. Photo from Inside Dakota Sports
Discrimination at Post 22 baseball?
Fathers’ of Merrival and Swan say so
By Brandon Ecoffey
Native Sun News Managing Editor RAPID CITY—Two sets of Native American parents feel that their sons were discriminated against by the Post 22 American Legion baseball team when they were cut just days before the team competed in the South Dakota American legion baseball tournament. The parents are set to file a complaint with Rapid City’s Civil Rights commission where specifics of what they believe took place will be made public. “I think it comes down to race,” said Darrin Merrival father of Joe Merrival. The younger Merrival had commuted often from the Pine Ridge Reservation to practice and play for the team and had seen some action on the mound and in the field. Early in the season coaches from Post 22 provided praise for the ability of Merrival and expected him help the team make a run at a state title. “If you look at it the cuts were made strictly along racial lines” said Walt Swan, father of Steven Swan. Steven Swan saw limited action for the Hardhats after transferring to the team from eastern North Carolina where he was one of the top hitters in his league. Walt Swan said that the program that Steven had been playing in prior to moving back to South Dakota was larger and that the league had more talent than what is seen in this region. According to him his son had competed at a high level while playing in North Carolina and when he couldn’t see action in Rapid City he began to question why. Swan told Native Sun News that his son was recruited heavily by coaches of Post 22 and given a spot on the team without a tryout. Swan said that Steven requested a tryout to prove his ability but was denied that option by the team. Once on the team, Steven Swan, struggled to find playing time for the Hard Hats. Both fathers’ say that their sons had played with less room for error than other players and were often yanked from games quicker than others who were making errors in the field. According to Darrin Merrival, who is a calculus teacher on the reservation, a deeper look at the stats reveals what he says is evidence that his son’s performance was on par with those who were competing against him for playing time. “The stats for Joe seem to be low at first compared to his teammates but he often played against the toughest teams. When you look at his stats in those games they are similar to his teammates because of the level of competition they were playing against,” he said. Officials from Post 22 have said that the cuts were based strictly on performance. After the two players were cut younger athletes from Post 22’s farm program were moved up to play for the varsity Hard Hats. Swan said that the official complaint will be filed with the Civil Rights commission this coming week. (Contact Brandon Ecoffey at staffwriter2@nsweekly.com) Copyright permission Native Sun News
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