CHAMBERLAIN — Last Wednesday, longtime Chamberlain Mallards fan Wade Hutmacher tragically passed away at the age of 50.

Hutmacher was a member and one of the creators of the Duck Blind, a group of the Mallards’ biggest fans that goes to every Chamberlain Mallards game.

“I'd say probably eight or nine years ago, a bunch of the guys kind of just started getting together and, coming to the Mallard games to where they kind of nicknamed themselves the duck blind, and Wade started out as kind of one of the main guys I guess you could say,” said former Mallard manager and current player Mike Schwartz. “And then all of a sudden it turned into traveling all across the state following us and so he kind of became one of our number one supporters.”

Being part of the Duck Blind wasn’t just about going to support the local amateur team. For Hutmacher, it was finding plenty of unique ways to make his presence known at the ball field.

“He'd bring his duck calls and everything, and so they started to quack every time we scored a run,” Schwartz said. “Pretty much every guy that joined the team, he then ended up giving a nickname. So he had a name for about everybody on the team.”

A photo of the Duck Blind during a Chamberlain Mallards game last season. Wade Hutmacher pictured in the back row, far right.(Rodney Haas / 605 Sports)

Hutmacher was also notorious for having fun with the umpires. No matter what happened during the game, he was one of the first people in the stands to thank the umps after the game.

“But as soon as the game was over, he was right there telling them thanks with a cooler full of beer,” Schwartz said. “A lot of the umpires kind of look forward to it. I think some still don't like it.”

From the creation of the Duck Blind, Hutmacher and some of his closest friends didn’t just help the Mallards with their own support, they even helped grow the popularity of amateur baseball within the Chamberlain community as well.

“He kind of really got this whole Duck Blind going and grew our crowd pretty well. We went from maybe 20-25 people coming to the games to all of a sudden, I'd say some games it's almost 100 people,” Schwartz said. “It's a huge difference, especially for a team that, when I first took over there, we didn't hardly have anything for money. It was just enough to play each year. And then with them, bringing the duck blind and everything, it just grew to where we could afford newer equipment and jerseys look a little cleaner.”

Hutmacher was involved with many of the fundraisers for the Mallards and was always willing to help out wherever it was needed. About five years ago, he even came through with funds for something you don’t see often in amateur baseball.

“A group of guys was kind of like, ‘If we're getting new jerseys, what about a mascot,’ and I'm like ‘We kind of don't really have funds for a mascot,’ ” Schwartz said. “It’s amateur baseball. We don't have mascots other than just the team name. And he (Wade) goes, ‘Oh don't worry about it, I'll have all the money fundraised in about two hours.’ ” 

Two hours later, Hutmacher had the funds raised for a brand new Mallards mascot.

A team photo of the Chamberlain Mallards with the Mallard mascot. (Courtesy Photo)

The Mallards mascot used to be the current manager for the team, Craig Wiekamp, who took over as manager for the 2025 season. But, it was still tough to get use out of the costume in the intense South Dakota summer heat.

“The one thing I don't think we really thought about was it's typically 98 degrees, so trying to get somebody to fit into that thing and run around, which it's been done a couple times, but he's just always been a guy like that,” said Schwartz of Hutmacher.

With the amount of time and energy Hutmacher had put in to the Mallards program over the past decade, it made it that much more heartbreaking when the news of his passing broke last week.

“To get that news on Wednesday, it was kind of a huge hit,” Schwartz said. “Even our first game, like we played Kimball that Thursday, so the day after. Some of the duck blind were there, it's some of his best friends. There's a couple times I even thought I'd think you hear him again, and then you look up, really it's not him. And a couple of guys right after the game typically stick around and have a cold one, but it was hard to sit around after the game without him.”

Ahead of this past Sunday’s matchup with the Colome Chaos, the Mallards wanted to come up with ways to honor Hutmacher in the first home game since his passing. The Mallards decided to hold a 50/50 raffle for Hutmacher’s family during the game as well as painting his initials behind home plate. And with heavy hearts in Chamberlain, the 50/50 raffle was an outstanding success.

“I was hoping with that we'd be able to scrounge up four or 500 bucks and so it was a pretty full stand for Chamberlain supporters,” Schwartz said of the raffle, “And I think we ended up raising, I think the 50/50 went about 650 bucks. So, I mean, it was kind of close to what I was hoping for and luckily the person that won it, they donated it all back, so we ended up getting about 1,300 bucks for them, which was amazing. That far exceeds what I was hoping for.”

During the Mallards 12-6 win over the Chaos, the game was delayed due to intense storms in the area, a storm that all attendees said was just Hutmacher making his presence felt once again.

“Our announcer was like ‘Well, this is just Wade getting everybody to stay a little longer and enjoy a couple more beers at the game,’ ” Schwartz said. “So it was kind of a little happiness in kind of a little bit of a darker time. But so everyone got a kick out of that.”

Hutmacher’s favorite thing to do with Mallards player Dakota Munger is yell out a $100 bet if he hits a home run. Naturally, Munger launched two home runs over the centerfield wall, adding on two hits 4-for-4 day at the plate, with a walk, double, and an RBI.

“Dakota came back after the game and was like ‘Well, I guess I'll donate my 200 bucks back to Wade’,” said Schwartz. “And so just that, right there, was pretty awesome.”

Schwartz says they want to host another fundraiser later this summer when the Kimball/White Lake Nationals come to town by holding a free will donation cookout. They will also continue painting Hutmacher’s initials behind home plate for the rest of the season.

Schwartz also wants to put together a classic-style event in Hutmacher’s memory to honor his love for amateur baseball and the Chamberlain Mallards.

“He was a crucial member to the Mallard team and everything it's become so kind of indebted to him, to help however we can,” Schwartz said.