The East River Smoke Men’s FastPitch Team won the 2023 Rosebud Fair & Wacipi Tournament. The tournament was held in Rosebud during the weekend of August 24-27. The tournament was comprised of 16 teams. The East River Smoke played against Redwood, Native Express, Red Leaf and Top Gunz to make it to the championship game. In the championship game, the East River Smoke faced The Tribe to win the tournament. Teams entered in the Rosebud Tournament were from all over South Dakota including Sioux Falls and as far as Oklahoma. The team was made up of mostly Yankton Sioux Tribe members from the Lake Andes and Wagner area, but also had three members from Sioux Falls and two from Wisconsin. The team was assembled rather quickly for the tournament by Terry Bruguier (pitcher), Harry Medicine Bear (second baseman) and Christian Hart (outfielder). The team with some additional players also attended the ISC World Tournament in Denmark, WI this year. Though they did not place, the experience was invaluable to the team and players. Even though getting a team together was done in short notice, they received great support from local businesses including Apparel Worx, Bouza’s Construction, Ruthies, the Yankton Sioux Tribe and The Fort Randall Casino & Hotel.

East River Smoke has set high goals for upcoming seasons. Within the next two years, the team would like to play in the World Tournament. They would like to create both a local fastpitch team, a travel team and possibly a slow-pitch local league. They have already started fundraising for the 2024 season. Follow the East River Smoke Fastpitch Facebook page to see all their upcoming fundraisers and to follow their 2024 season.