Playing baseball since he was 2, Brian Holmstrom awarded Bryce Anglin Memorial Scholarship

Brian Holmstrom started playing baseball when he was 2.

Now, 17 years later, he's in his second season on the Aberdeen Smittys Legion team. And he's been named the 2022 Bryce Anglin Memorial Scholarship recipient.

On April 24, 2012, Bryce, who was a student-athlete at Northern State University, died from an aggressive form of cancer. He was 21. He also played for the Smittys.

"I mean going through the system you definitely hear about Bryce and you play on Bryce's field, so you kind of have to have an understanding of who he is," Holmstrom said. "There's the scholarship and award, but it's more about who he was as a person and how you have to continue to be a role model, not just on the baseball field but off the field."

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Just north of Fossum Field is a smaller baseball field that's called Bryce Field. There's also the Bryce Anglin Memorial Scoreboard that was added in July 2013 before the Smittys 13-14 Teener tournament.

While the award was being announced, Holmstrom was standing next to teammate Josh Steinwandt, who plays for Northern State. They're the only super seniors on the Smittys squad. Holmstrom said he wasn't even aware that he met the qualifications for the scholarship.

"I was talking with him like, 'Did you say super seniors can get selected for this, too?'" Holmstrom said. "When I heard him say (my name) I was kind of taken aback. I was like, 'Did I hear that right?'"

After seeing his parents, Holmstrom said the importance of the award started to sink in.

"At the time, I didn't even know my parents were there because I didn't realize that they knew that I was in contention for the (scholarship). So when I saw them come out and my mom was crying, that's when it kind of hit me because I didn't even know if they were there or not," Holmstrom said.

Two foundations created in Bryce Anglin's honor

Bryce's coaches, teammates and friends created the Bryce Anglin Baseball Forever Foundation to ensure his legacy continues through the Aberdeen Smittys program. The foundation is entirely for the Smittys' scholarship, said Greg Anglin, Bryce's father.

Bryce was batboy, player and umpire in the Aberdeen program. As a high school senior, he batted .357. His average was .330 as a junior, when he drew 30 walks in 97 at-bats.

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As a college player for Northern, Bryce was more of a role player, Greg said. Bryce appeared in nine games for the Wolves in 2010 and 10 games in 2011. He was diagnosed with cancer before the 2012 season.

"He got playing time that he probably deserved, but he knew his place on the team and mostly being that good teammate," Greg said.

Bryce was a part of the 2008 Smittys team that won the Class A Legion state tournament in Aberdeen. It's the team's only state championship since 1964.

John Krogstrand is the director of Bryce Anglin Baseball Forever Foundation and coached Bryce for six years. Greg said Krogstrand was an instrumental force in the early days of the foundation, organizing silent auctions and a golf tournament to give it financial footing.

"He spearheaded everything ... And (he) does most of the legwork for that foundation," Greg said.

An Aberdeen native, Krogstrand is now assistant executive director for the South Dakota High School Activities Association.

The guidelines for the scholarship include a dedication to the program, camaraderie among teammates and the desire to improve self, team and teammates. The coaching staff picks the winner.

"There's never been a question of who they've picked, and I'm sure it's been a hard decision most years," Greg said.

A senior or super senior on the Smittys team gets a $1,000 scholarship each year, but it the foundation does more than that. The Northern State baseball team awards a monthly Bryce Anglin Teammate Award.

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There's another foundation in Bryce's legacy called the Bryce Nation Foundation, which is targeted more toward education. It awards scholarships and donates to caner efforts. In the past decade, the foundation has given away about $10,000 to various charities, Greg said.

It's also funded a track and field record board at May Overby Elementary School and a leadership award at Simmons Middle School.

Holmstrom was announced as this year's scholarship winner before a game against Rapid City Post 320 Wednesday at Fossum Field. Several other scholarship winners were on hand, including Dalton Cox (2014), Joey Wollman (2016) and Austin Wagemann (2021).

Other recipients of the honor have included Zach Reierson (2012), Matt Swallow (2013), Matt Melemsetter (2015), Colton Cox (2017), Tyler Traphagen (2018) and Matt Feiock (2020).

Former coaches, players return for scholarship announcement

"It's almost grown every year to the number of people who take part in the pregame festivities and part of that's because we have more scholarship winners to choose from to come back," Greg said. "The guys that were teammates with (Bryce) during his time, a lot of them are still around here ... Usually the party is 15 to 20 ex-teammates, ex-coaches and ex-scholarship winners that'll take part it in every year, no questions asked. All I gotta do is tell them the date and the time and they'll be there, no questions asked."

Holmstrom, like Bryce, plays at the collegiate level. The Roncalli graduate just finished his first year with Presentation College.

"I kind of went back into pitching a little bit just because I felt like I could be useful there for the team. I felt like I definitely can pitch, so that's why I kind of felt the desire to go back to pitching," Holmstrom said.

He has become a leader for the younger players on the Saints team, not unlike Bryce at Northern.

"I definitely have kind of filled in that role because we lost a lot of seniors (from) last year," Holmstrom said. "I also have kind of taken some of the stuff I've been taught from the college level ... I like to kind of talk with either the pitcher or catcher to make sure how they're feeling or what's going on. Or even like in the infield, I'll make sure everyone knows what the situation is so that we're just not losing focus."

While he's regarded as quiet, Homstrom leads by example, said Smittys coach Brandon Kusler.

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"Brian is the perfect guy in terms of leading by example, and he plays the game the right way. He plays the game hard, and he's just a great teammate as well," Kusler said.

Holmstrom has played a key role on the mound for the Smittys this summer, starting seven of the 11 games he's appeared in.

In 40.2 innings pitched, second-most on the team behind Casey Vining, Holmstrom owns a 3-3 record and one save with an earned-run average of 4.64 with 30 strikeouts.

"They've used me to start because I can go pretty long in terms of innings, (it) helps our bullpen," he said.

He also plays in the infield, often at third base.

The Smittys currently sit 15th out of 16 Class A Legion teams in seeding points, ahead of Sturgis.

"I know we definitely have a good enough team to go far in the state (tournament)," Holmstrom said.

Getting to the state tourney would be a big stepping stone for the team and would help returning players in the years to come, he said.

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Aberdeen's biggest wins this season, from a seed point standpoint, include two victories against Huron and one against Sioux Falls West. But they have time to pick up more with upcoming games against Brookings (fourth in Class A), Yankton (eighth) and Pierre (11th).

Holmstrom isn't deterred. The Smittys goal, he said, is obviously to win the state tournament.

This article originally appeared on Aberdeen News: Aberdeen baseball player wins Bryce Anglin Memorial Scholarship