ABERDEEN — Joe Stellinga of Watertown, James "JC" Crawford of Sisseton and Deb (Esche) Finnesand and John Ewart of Aberdeen are the members of 2024 induction class into the USA Softball of South Dakota Hall of Fame.
Crawford and Finnesand are being honored as players; Stellinga as a player, coach and sponsor; and Ewart as a player, coach and contributor.
The Hall of Fame Banquet is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 12, at the Ramkota Inn in Aberdeen. The event will begin with a social at 5:30 p.m. and will include a meal, introduction of the new Hall of Famers and some special awards. Tickets are $40 and can be reserved by contacting Hall of Fame director Mike Dykstra at 605-222-3139 or email kdykstra@sio.midco.net.
Here's more on each of the inductees:
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James "JC" Crawford
Crawford's nearly 50-year career started with fastpitch in 1976 and 12-inch slowpitch in 1979 with Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe teams from Old Agency. He has also played 14-inch and co-ed softball.
Crawford has primarily played as an infielder and pitcher in both fastpitch and softball, but has played every position except catcher through the years.
He has played on numerous state and national championship teams in both slowptich and fastpitch, including 10 National Indian Athletic Association (NIAA) World Championship teams ranging from 1988 to 2023.
Crawford earned NIAA all-tourney team honors in all but one year from 1987 through 2000 as well as multiple all-tourney and MVP honors in the Native Indian Sports/ASA World Series.
One of his biggest highlights came when he represented North America in a Goodwill Games pre-tournament in Perth, Ontario. In a game televised on ABC's Wide World of Sports, Crawford broke up a no-hitter by legendary fastpitch pitcher Darren Zach.
Crawford was inducted into the United Tribes Hall of Fame in 2015 and the Native Worlds Hall of Fame in 2023, the same year in hosted the 48th annual Big Jim tournament (that was started in honor of his father, Big Jim Crawford) held in conjunction with the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Wacipi.
"JC deserves the Hall of Fame solely on his athletic talent as he can flat out play," Hall of Fame nominator JD Young said. "But he also brings so much more to the field as a great ambassador of the game."
Deb (Esche) Finnesand
Finnesand also has played for numerous teams in both fastpitch and slowpitch and always played at the upper levels of competition.
She was a pitcher who also played all four infield spots as well as center and left field in fastpitch and many of the same positions in slowpitch.
Finnesand helped lead her teams to numerous league championships during the heyday of women's softball in Aberdeen. She played on back-to-back Class A slowpitch state championship teams in 1987 and 1988, a women's modified fastpitch state championship team in 1990 and 35-and-over teams that won at least three state titles in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
All together, she has played in eight national tournaments (four slowpitch, one modified fastpitch and three Senior games).
Finnesand was a five-time MVP in the Hazel Invite, which drew some of the top fastpitch softball teams every year. She also earned all-tourney honors in women's state slowpitch tourneys more than 20 times and national All-American honors two times in slowpitch, two times in 35-and-over and once in modified.
She played collegiately at Northern State and earned All-District 12 honors all four years and All-Region honors two times. She later coached NSU's softball team for eight years and has been inducted into the NSU and Aberdeen Central Halls of Fame.
Last summer, she was chosen to throw out the first pitch at the inaugural South Dakota High School Activities Association State Girls Fastptich Tournament held in Aberdeen.
"Deb was representing all of us women who never had a chance to play softball as a high school sanctioned sport," Nominator Kathy "Coyle" Grubb said. "When I think of Deb, I think of not only of her talents but the contributions to the advancement of women in sport in South Dakota."
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Joe Stellinga
A Watertown businessman, Stellinga started playing slowpitch softball with the Jensen Brothers team in Sioux Falls in 1979 and continued through 1992 when he moved to Watertown. He also played with Curtis Mathes and J&C teams in Watertown throughout much of that time and continues playing through 1998.
A pitcher and first baseman, Stellinga played on teams that won the Watertown league 10 consecutive years, a state B title in 1994 and state A 14-inch titles in 1996 and 1997.
He continued to sponsor and/or coach men's and women and youth girls and boys teams during his association with softball that lasted nearly 40 years. His teams won numerous league tournaments, league titles and state championships. He has played, coached or sponsored teams that played in 30 state championship games.
"For my entire life, my father loved played and coaching softball," Kim Grandgaard, Joe's daughter, said. "As a kid, we were at the diamonds playing with my sister and cousins as dad played softball. When we moved to Watertown, it did not stop, instead in grew. The number of people my father has coached and sponsored is remarkable but the time and deducation he has put into the softball program is monumental."
Stellinga was among the instrumental figures in starting the Watertown Junior Olympic Softball program in the 1990s, which has grown to be among the best in the nation.
John Ewart
Like Stellinga, Ewart has made his mark on softball in South Dakota in a variety of ways since starting his softball career as player in 1983 in Aberdeen with Mr. T's 12-inch team and the Stahl Oil-Thompson Trucking coed team.
He played 12-inch, 14-inch, 16-inch and co-ed softball and was a member of many league and state championship teams in a career that included into the 2010s. Ewalt played and/or coached teams that played in national tournaments in co-ed, 12-inch and 16-inch softball. He also coached two teams to women's state championships in 1990 and 1991.
"Johnson has done about everything softball in Aberdeen, thus the nickname "Johnny Softball," Durran Schmidt said. "I was blessed to play on John's teams for more than 20 years. His teams were know for playing hard, having fun and playing the game the right way."
Ewart served as the Aberdeen Men's 12-inch area commissioner from 1999 to 2019 and, in 2006, became the South Dakota Deputy Commissioner for 14- and 16-inch softball, a position he still holds today. He was also voted to a two-year term as the state president of USA Softball in 2021.
In addition, he has served on the ASA/USA Softball state executive committee since 2006 and on Aberdeen's new complex committee from 2012 through 2019.
"John is one of the most well-respected promoters of the game in South Dakota," Craig Green said.
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com
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