American Legion baseball underway in Dickinson
Jun. 7—DICKINSON — The leaves are back on the trees, the crops are starting to fill in the fields and the diamonds finally are filling up with American Legion ballplayers. Area leagues — which include the Double-A Dickinson Roughriders, Single-A Volunteers, Babe Ruth Travel 14s, Cavalry 13s and the Scouts — have already taken to the mounds and outfields of games this week. The Babe Ruth 14s split a series in Mandan at home on Tuesday, 10-9 and 8-16, while the Roughriders lost both games on the road at Mandan, 4-14 and 3-4.
The Volunteers begin their season on Wednesday, June 7, in Minot, and the Calvary 13s tipped Mandan at home in their opening series of the season on Tuesday by scores of 12-11 and 10-9, while the Scouts also will be getting started on Wednesday at home in Dickinson.
Tyler Frenzel serves as the head coach of the Roughriders and said the teams are geared up and ready to go, adding that, "This is always a fun time of year, the weather starts to get nice and it just feels like baseball season."
The team returned quite a few of last-year's starters and suffered almost no losses, including Dickinson High School products Isaac Daley and Carson Weiler.
"We should have a strong core of upperclassmen this year and it's been a few years since we've been able to build that up, so we're excited for it," Frenzel said. "It's big to have all those guys back. They've been in our program and this will be their fifth year, and they've played since they were 15 years old and it's great to have them back with us and Isaac has some college experience to bring back with them."
The AA team is comprised of athletes who didn't turn 20 before January 1 of this year, while the Single-A team's players cannot have turned 18 before January 1. Registration fees and uniform costs can be found on the website.
Krenzel added that having the more-experienced athletes on hand also offers a solid foundation for the younger players on the team through their leadership and skill-level. The Roughriders also routinely go to tournaments out of state — such as Omaha, Neb. and Sioux Falls, SD — where the players can be exposed to other coaches who might be looking for younger talented ballplayers. Augustana University first saw new recruit and Midget standout Jadon Bast at just such a tournament last year, Frenzel said.
But no matter the league, American Legion baseball has been around for decades and is a great way for baseball players to hone their skills and maintain a close involvement with the game. For the older age-groups, American Legion baseball historically has been a way to help athletes with exposure to college and pro scouts as well, and there will be abundant chances for members of the various teams to travel to larger tournaments for an opportunity to showcase their skills in various areas across the Midwest.
"This has been a great organization for a long time and it just gives kids a chance to play in the summer and hone their skills," Frenzel said. "And if they have college aspirations they can get out to other states and it's a chance for a lot of coaches to come out and watch these kids."
The leagues have a very convenient and thorough website for players, coaches, fans and enthusiasts alike, and the coming games on the horizon include the Roughriders traveling to Jamestown on Tuesday, June 13 for a doubleheader, the Volunteers hosting the Bismarck Capitals on Monday, June 12, the Babe Ruth Travel 14s heading to Williston for a doubleheader on Monday, June 12 and the Cavalry 13s heading to Fargo for an invitational tournament this weekend. All the teams also have a full slate of games on the way next week, which can be found on the organization's website.
A couple of the events on the calendar fans should be aware of include a scrimmage game with the Badlands Big Sticks on July 5 at Astoria Park and Dakota Community Bank & Trust Ballpark also will be the host of the state tournament for American Legion ball this year from Monday, July 24 to Saturday, July 29.
"It'll be exciting for our boys to play against those guys to just go out and have some fun and hopefully get to play in front of a bigger crowd that we don't normally get," Frenzel said. "In my opinion we have one of the best facilities in the state and we're very fortunate to get to play there at home."
For a full schedule of games and more information about the Dickinson American Legion baseball program, please keep reading your Dickinson Press and/or visit
https://www.dickinsonbaseball.com/
. Two other good sources of information for American Legion baseball are
