High school baseball in the state of South Dakota will remain unsanctioned for now, the South Dakota High School Activities Association announced on Wednesday.
Along with Wyoming, South Dakota are the only two states in the U.S. to not have sanctioned high school baseball. Sanctioning the sport has been considered by the SDHSAA since the start of April 2024 following requests made by McCook Central and Mount Vernon.
The board noted the cost for each school along with declining enrollment numbers and mixed survey results as factors in coming to the decision.
"I love baseball," SDHSAA executive director Dan Swartos said (thanks to Keloland.com for the quotes). "It would be great to sanction it."
Without transportation, cost estimates to start a baseball team would be $15,000. That number could triple as more teams are added.
Survey results showed that just 18 percent of the schools would be likely to field a team in the spring 2027 while 12 percent were very likely. Of those surveyed, 56 percent said they were very unlikely or unlikely to have a team.
The state's high school baseball association is expected to continue to sponsor its own spring league even if the state sanctioned these port in the future.