Sam McMacken has given plenty to the game of baseball. While his hard work led to a prolific high school career and an opportunity to play collegiate baseball, McMacken feels like baseball has given him far more than he could ever put into the game including a spot in the South Dakota High School Baseball Association Hall of Fames 2024 induction class.
Its all I really knew for so long, McMacken said. Playing ever since I was three or four years old, its been the one thing I love the most. There are definitely high points in baseball and in baseball there are the lowest of lows, too. [But] I think overall, its hard to ever explain it.
One of the things that baseball gave McMacken was an appreciation for his family. McMacken picked up a love for the game from his father Craig, who introduced Sam to baseball at the age of two. After swinging a bat and throwing balls around the house, Craig and Sam went out to the field and started to work on his game no matter when he wanted to head to the field.
I would just hit, hit, hit, hit and I loved it and he loved it too, Sam recalled. The sacrifices that my dad made to help me become a baseball player are more than I could ever imagine. He would never tell me no. If I wanted to go hit baseballs, he would make time for it. If I wanted to play catch, if I wanted to field ground balls, he would always make the time to help me become a better baseball player.
With his dad cultivating his talent, McMacken began to stand out when he started playing organized baseball. McMacken believes he was lucky enough to have natural talent but his hard work made him even better and he started receiving compliments about his game.
While he received plenty of praise, McMacken also credited his support system that he says includes hundreds of people. One of those groups were his teammates that not only kept him humble but also pushed him to get better every day.
When you start playing baseball, T-Ball, coach pitch or whatever, you play at a young age and you make friends, McMacken explained. Its special getting to play with your best friends for so many years and you kind of become each others support system. I had some fantastic teammates and friends over the years that pushed me and we all wanted to build baseball games together.
McMacken began to work his way through the Brookings youth organization with his friends and they eventually made their way to the varsity level. While McMacken was on the Bobcats varsity roster during his sophomore season, he stayed in the lineup at first base for good beginning in his junior year.
While McMacken said joining the varsity team was intimidating at first, he credited Bobcats head coach Ryan Bauer and the rest of the coaching staff for helping him get acclimated and bring the team together.
Coach Bauer did a really good job of instilling the common goal at the beginning of the year and what we needed to play for, McMacken said. I think overall, we just had a really tight group of dudes who all wanted to win baseball games and you didnt really care about where you were hitting in the lineup or who was getting hits or who was doing this. It was a very team-heavy mentality.
The arrival of McMacken and the rest of his teammates helped create a special era for Brookings baseball. The Bobcats were led by a senior-heavy group that went on to win the Class A State Championship in 2015 and repeated when McMacken and several others stepped up to repeat at state champions the following year.
That was big and everyone handled it extremely well, McMacken said of the 2016 team. We had a lot of guys step up and take on that new role starting on varsity but keeping the same mentality we had the year before and it led to another state championship. Its some of the best memories you could ever look back on.
The Bobcats were thriving as a team during McMackens senior year but so was McMacken individually. McMacken earned First-Team All-State honors during his junior year and was named to the team again after hitting .405 with five homers, 12 doubles and 42 RBI in his senior season.
McMacken went on to hit .397 with two homers, 10 doubles and 30 RBI during the legion season that summer and went on to enroll and be part of the baseball team at South Dakota State. McMacken transferred to Northern State University for two seasons after his freshman year but he continued to play during the summer as a member of the Brookings Cubs amateur team.
After playing six seasons with the Cubs, McMacken is taking the year off as he has spent taking up the game of golf. While he plays the weekend scramble as well as the Tuesday city league, McMacken says its been more of a casual hobby and a change of pace after playing baseball for so long.
But despite the break, baseball is still a big part of McMackens life. He still watches the Twins and follows Brookings baseball and is grateful for what the game has brought to him after being inducted at the SDHSBA State Tournament in Sioux Falls last weekend.
I am so grateful to be a part of this years class and stand alongside a pretty talented group of baseball players, McMacken said. I dont know how to put it all into words yet. Im still soaking it all in but high school baseball was such a special time for me. You grow up, you play with all of your best friends and I got to win a state championship. Its an awesome feeling, an awesome recognition and Im super blessed to be a part of it.
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