(South Dakota News Watch) A South Dakota judge has ruled in favor of the American Legion and two media companies in a defamation lawsuit filed by a former Mitchell baseball player. Van Delist sent the letter to members of the Mitchell Baseball Association saying that Mitchell Baseball would be immediately barred from participating in the American Legion after a rape case involving six players made its way through court. Mandel was a player for the Mitchell Baseball team and one of six involved in a hazing incident that took place in 2023 at a Rapid City hotel room. The event, in which another player said the boys held him down and performed forcible digital anal penetration on him, was later characterized as a rape case. Circuit Judge David Knoff heard the defamation case in May and took it under advisement.