Rich Downs has been named Rapid City Post 22’s new head baseball coach, the Baseball Parents Inc. Board announced on Friday, Jan. 30, effective immediately.

Downs was a long-time assistant coach under long-time Post 22 manager Dave Ploof for 30 seasons. He left the program in 2012, and spent five seasons away from American Legion baseball before taking over the Rapid City Post 320 program for one season in 2018. He replaces Kelvin Torve, who recently resigned from his Post 22 head coach position.  

Downs coached college baseball at the Division I, Division II and the NAIA levels and coached on five of the eight World Series Post 22 teams.

Following a board vote, the decision was made to begin the transition to coach Downs without delay to ensure continuity and momentum for the program.

The BPI board also expressed gratitude to Torve for his leadership to Post 22, one of the premier American Legion programs in the region. 

“I have enjoyed the honor to serve as the Post 22 Baseball head coach for the past eight years and am proud of what the organization has accomplished,” Torve said in a press release. “Our program is financially sound, athletically talented, and has the best facilities in the upper Midwest—Post 22 Baseball is in a strong position to improve upon our storied history. It has been a privilege to work with our GM, Wayne Sullivan, our coaches and players, and I look forward to the continuing success of Post 22 Baseball.”