Dennis Tiefenthaler - Inducted 2025
Dennis Tiefenthaler was born on May 17, 1962, and now resides in Dewey (AZ). In the words of hall of fame member Greg Hanson, “Athletic versatility did not originate with Dennis Tiefenthaler, he has simply refined it to an art seldom seen before in the state of South Dakota. In a time when two out of three ain’t bad is a generally excepted philosophy, the Armour high school native looms as a classic example of a different train of thought. His diversified skills seem to proclaim four out of four is best. Football basketball, track and baseball. He not only participates but excels in each. At the age of 16, he is already being mentioned in the same breath with many of the greatest high school athletes in the state’s history.” Quite possibly the most celebrated athlete in his high school career, having been interviewed and featured by every major news outlet throughout the state. He was chosen South Dakota’s prep male athlete of the year in 1978 and went on to help lead Armour to six state titles. Two in baseball coached by his father Ken, two in basketball and two in track. He was an individual state track champion six times and was a state record holder in the 440 yard dash with a time of 48.5 seconds. He also won the 1979 special event at Howard Wood Dakota Relays that included all classes. For that and many other great races at Howard Wood, he was inducted to the Howard Wood Hall of Fame in 2007 alongside his brother and last year‘s Hall of Fame inductee, Jeff Tiefenthaler. He was an all-state football player three times and all-state basketball player two times. A pitcher and infielder in baseball and after overcoming a severe knee injury in his senior football season, Dennis was drafted twice by Major League Baseball in 1980 in the 19th round by the Toronto Blue Jays. Then after a year at Yavapai Junior College in 1982, he was the 49th overall pick in the nation by the Baltimore Orioles. He played three seasons, reaching AA. After his professional career, he coached daughter Samantha and her junior Olympic softball team to a national title in 1999. Along with a career in business, he has developed young baseball and softball players to numerous scholarships and awards over the last 25 years. In 2020, he and son Jared co-authored an Amazon best-selling book called “Seam Reading: The Hidden Art of Hitting.” The Tiefenthalers’ Seam Reader App has developed revolutionary pitch recognition technology that is helping hitters to be better all over the world.
