SD's best small-town baseball fields

Baseball field located in Salem, SD.

Matt Gade / The Mitchell Republic

Salem’s Cub Field voted No. 1 by fans

By Ryan Deal

Mitchell Republic

South Dakota amateur baseball fans rally around their fields.

They pump in thousands of dollars to make them shine, pop and come alive during the baseball season. They swarm to ballparks during hot summer nights to socialize and support their favorite teams.

They rallied once again to help determine South Dakota’s best small-town baseball fields. On July 21, The Mitchell Republic asked readers to vote for their favorite South Dakota small-town ballparks.

More than 1,200 votes were submitted in less than a week and Salem’s baseball field was the leading vote getter, followed by fields in Winner, Parkston, Flandreau and Menno.

Here’s a closer look at the top five fields, as voted by amateur baseball fans.

Cub Field

SALEM – Significant upgrades have been made to make Salem’s Cub Field sparkle.

Since 2012, more than $350,000 has been poured into the field and its Little League parks, according to Craig Cheeseman.

The upgrades to Cub Field include the installation of a turf infield and walk-up areas, concession stands, backstops, bleachers, dugouts, batting cages and box seating along the first base line. The Salem Cubs, of the Cornbelt League, play their home games at the venue.

“We feel it’s a great venue for fans,” said Cheeseman, a Salem baseball committee member. “The seating and the atmosphere is very fanfriendly. I think it’s a really good place to enjoy watching baseball.”

It’s paid dividends as Salem has hosted multiple tournaments across various levels, while a host of people are responsible for assisting with the field.

“We’ve got a good group of parents,” Cheeseman said. “All the way from Legion-aged kids all the way to 6 and under. It’s not one person. It’s been a group at all levels and we continue to support it.”

Cheeseman said the city has aided in the upgrade projects, but a majority of the money has been raised from sponsors, tournaments and concession stand sales.

“We feel we’ve got a really good thing and it looks like it’s going to be that way for a long time,” Cheeseman said. “The system is in place and we’ve got a really good group of particularly parents at all levels. … Salem supports its baseball pretty good.”

Cub Field is 320-feet to right and left field and 365-feet to center field. In 2018, the press box was named in honor of Bob McCormick, a longtime baseball statistician and PA announcer who passed away in 2016.

Leahy Bowl

WINNER – Winner’s Leahy Bowl oozes with history.

The venue, which was built in 1948, was the home to the Basin League’s Winner Pheasants in the 1950s and 1960s. It was named after Winner High School graduate and former Notre Dame player/coach Frank Leahy. Major League Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer used to toe the rubber at Leahy Bowl. “There’s been a lot of really good teams that have played there and a lot of really good players,” said Austin Richey, who currently plays for Winner and is treasurer of the baseball association. “Everybody used to host a bunch of players, kind of the college-type players. They would help them out on the farm and that was a way they still got to play baseball.”

It’s now home to the Winner/Colome Pheasants of the Sunshine League and the Winner/Colome Royals American Legion and high school teams. At Leahy Bowl, the baseball field sits at the bottom of a hill and spectators can watch games from their vehicles looking down from the top of the hill.

It’s 325-feet down the lines and 375-feet to center field. The field’s original 80-foot light towers are still in place. But the Winner Baseball Association has continued to make improvements in recent years. In recent years, it has upgraded bleachers, the press box and plans on adding a new scoreboard in the future.

It doesn’t go unnoticed either. The venue has hosted multiple state tournaments and Richey takes note of the positive feedback from fans across the state.

“It’s a meeting point halfway for Rapid City and Sioux Falls schools and a lot of our area towns really like to come to Leahy Bowl,” Richey said. “It’s kind of nice where everybody can sit up around the bowl there and not have to be right on top of them. It’s a really nice place to watch a game.”

The Pond

PARKSTON – Mudcats, Bullheads and Rock Bass have all called The Pond their home.

At one time, Parkston’s field was home to the three Sunshine League baseball teams. However, just the Mudcats are the lone team still in existence. Parkston’s high school and Legion teams also play their home games at The Pond, which is a popular spot for area’s baseball fans and a regular host for the District 5B amateur baseball tournament.

“They like the field and they like coming out having a good time and watching baseball,” Parkston manager Dave Roth said.

It’s also ripe with history. The grandstand was moved by horses in 1938 when the facility was originally built and the park hosted the 1968 state amateur baseball tournament.

The field dimensions are 320-feet down the lines and 352-feet to center field.

In 2014, the park went under significant upgrades. The renovations included tilling, grading, and sodding the in-field, removal of fence and bracing of backstop/grandstand, new backstop netting and concrete sidewalk path to replace rock through grandstand.

“It’s a nice park,” Roth said. “We try to keep it up well and everybody likes coming out.”

Flandreau City Park

FLANDREAU – Located on the banks of the Big Sioux River, Flandreau City Park is home to camping facilities, playground and picnic areas. It’s also home to the Flandreau Cardinals, of the Cornbelt League.

The park is one mile east of Flandreau and the Big Sioux River sits a few foul balls away from home plate, giving it a unique feel.

“We are located right along the Big Sioux River and we have some big mature trees surrounding the entire field,” Flandreau player/ manager Bret Severtson said. “It is just outside of town. So it’s kind of a little more intimate and private setting, too.”

The field’s dimensions are 330-feet down the lines and 360-feet to center field. The field features an old wooden grandstand behind home plate and underground dugouts.

There are youth fields also on site and Severtson credits Randy Wilts for maintaining the parks during the summer. Flandreau has discussed adding turf in hopes to continue hosting tournaments in the future.

“We have a real good community following,” Severtson said. “We have quite a few businesses around town that will do some dollar foul ball nights, $5 foul ball nights just to get a ton of kids down there. … It’s real fun. When we have bigger games and nice nights, we will have fans up and down the lines and grandstands and the bleachers by the dugouts as well.”

Lily Pad

MENNO – Menno’s Lily Pad added something new this season, and it was in honor of a former Mad Frog.

Former Menno amateur baseball player Jarud Lang died in January and the team built the Jarud Lang Home Run Porch, which sits behind the right field fence.

“It’s very special,” Menno player/manager Ryan Liebl said. “We’ve gotten to enjoy it during districts as players, too. It’s been pretty cool.”

It adds to the outfield scene at Menno, which usually has a line of vehicles surrounding the outfield fence on game days.

“What’s best about it – especially being a small town – is you can come park anywhere,” Liebl said. “You can sit in the back of your truck anywhere on the field and it’s just a nice little layout for the community.”

The field is 320-feet down the lines and 365- feet to center field. Menno also recently upgraded its bleachers and added a new scoreboard.

Liebl said the coronavirus impacted the field in a positive way. The home attendance was higher this season and the community was allowed to help with improvements.

“We’ve had community groups that actually helped paint the field and change a lot of things,” Liebl said. “It’s been a real good meeting place – especially hosting districts.”

The field recently broke the District 6B gate money record. The previous record of more than $9,100 was set in Menno in 2005.

The best of the rest

Canova missed the top five spot and claimed sixth in the fan voting.

Canova’s field recently installed turf on the pitcher’s mound, home plate, walkways from dugouts to home plate, in front of the dugouts, coaches boxes and around the backstop. The project cost roughly $25,000. The rest of the top-10 included Redfield, Elk

Point, Tabor and Chamberlain.