Romain Loecker - Inducted 2004

Born Oct. 13, 1945. 1964 Yankton HS grad. Yankton College. One of South Dakota's greatest amateur baseball players, Loecker was the MVP of the 1969 state tourney and the batting champ in three tourneys (1969, '70 and '76). A slick-fielding, hard-hitting shortstop, the 5-foot-11, 170-pound Loecker competed in 18 straight state tournaments and led the Yankton Lakers to state titles in 1969 and '75. At the 1995 Senior World Series in Arizona, Loecker was the MVP of the championship game as the South Dakota Rushmores won the over-50 title. In 2002 and 2003, he played in the Men?s Senior Baseball tourney in Las Vegas, where the Rushmores won the 2002 title. Loecker's success in baseball began early. He played on Yankton's 1960 Teener team that finished fourth in the national tourney. At Yankton High, Loecker was a three-sport star: all-state quarterback, starting guard in basketball and state hurdles champ in track. He was unbeaten in the 120-yard high hurdles as a senior and set the school record (15.0). He was inducted into the Yankton High Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994. At Yankton College, he competed in football, baseball and track before entering the service. He was severely wounded in Vietnam when he was shot through both legs with a machine gun barrage. Loecker, who received the Purple Heart, spent five months recovering in an Army hospital.