Thompson's Ryam Brantl receives hall of fame honor
Jan. 9—THOMPSON, N.D. — One of the key figures in Thompson baseball's reputation as a strong baseball community has been honored by the North Dakota High School Coaches Association.
Former Thompson baseball coach Ryam Brantl has been selected as a 2024 Hall of Fame inductees to the NDHSCA.
Scott McPherson of Bismarck Legacy, Ron Metz of Bismarck Century and Scott Reichenberger of Bismarck High were also selected.
Brantl retired in 2013 after 37 years of teaching and coaching baseball at Thompson, finishing with a win-loss record of 537-193.
During that span, the Tommies made 15 state appearances, winning state titles in 1983, 1985, 1999 and 2005.
Brantl, who was inducted into the Mayville State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016, won North Dakota Region 2 Coach of the Year honors five times and was the state's coach of the year in 1985.
Brantl taught for two years in Grandin, N.D., before coming to Thompson in 1976.
In 2008, Brantl was one of eight finalists for National Baseball Coach of the Year.
In addition to coaching baseball at the high school level, Brantl coached Little League, Babe Ruth baseball and American Legion baseball.
A 1973 Mayville State graduate, Brantl's 2005 Thompson team was dominant — outscoring opponents 66-13 across five postseason games. No team came closer than five runs to Thompson.
The Tommies won three of those five games by the 10-run rule, including victories of 18-4 over Northern Cass in the state semifinals and 20-2 over Grafton in the state championship.
Brantl was awarded the North Dakota Associated Press Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association's Special Achievement Award in 2014.
Brantl is Thompson's first inductee into the NDHSCA Hall of Fame since Lisa Strand during the 2016-17 school year.
Brantl and Strand are the only two Thompson inductees since the organization started the Hall of Fame in the 1984-85 school year.
Thompson has built on the success of Brantl, as the Tommies won a state baseball title in 2016 and are currently back-to-back state tournament champions with titles in 2022 and 2023.
