DYERSVILLE, Iowa — Two South Dakota Legion baseball teams traveled to Dyersville, Iowa, Tuesday night to play at one of the most legendary baseball fields in the world, The Field of Dreams.

Used in the 1989 film ‘Field of Dreams’ starring Kevin Costner, the Field of Dreams Movie Site is now used as a tourist attraction, host to many little league tournaments, and Tuesday night, home to a South Dakota Legion baseball game between the Mount Vernon/Plankinton/Corsica-Stickney Padres and the Faulkton/Highmore Hitmen.

On the Field of Dreams Movie Site website you’re able to rent out the field from April 1-Oct. 31 in a very limited four-day weekly schedule, but the Padres and the Hitmen were still able to find a time to play at the historic field.

“It wasn’t too bad, the only thing is we had to wait until they get their tournaments scheduled first,” said Padres head coach Deric Denning. “And then it was just about finding a date that works, but it was as easy as I thought it was. I was just on the internet, found out you could rent it, and that was that, they were super easy to work with.”

As far as getting to the field, the two teams took different modes of transportation, with Faulkton/Highmore accommodating their players and parents with the additional two-hour drive.

“They (Faulkton/Highmore) took a charter bus, and they had, oh I don’t know, 50 people there,” Denning said. “But we just drove down with separate vehicles.”

The reason these two teams playing at the Field of Dreams came to be was actually through a connection with Faulkton/Hitmen head coach Tyler Cunningham and one of the umpires for the Field of Dreams game, Mount Vernon Mustangs amateur baseball player, Brady Albrecht.

“So Brady Albrecht came and umpired the bases, actually one of his best friends, coaches Faulkton,” said Denning. “So that was how we got to play them, kind of through Brady. So he came and umpired the bases and then the coordinator there put us in touch with an umpire in Iowa that was behind the plate.”

If you remember what the Field of Dreams looks like, you’ll know it has a small-fence backstop but doesn’t have any fencing around the field itself, including the old-school “dugouts”.

“It’s kind of like Dimock, there’s no fence down the lines,” said Denning. “They put up some temporary nets to make sure no one in the dugout area gets hurt, cause there’s no dugouts, it’s just a bench. And then like our fans were sitting on the bleachers that are in the movie between the house and the field.”

(Courtesy Photo)

The Field of Dreams has also held games on the newer, more developed field that wasn’t part of the movie, just a corn field apart from the original, hosting two MLB games in 2021 and ‘22.

“The MLB hauled in all of the bleachers and stuff for that field, so they told us when we were there that we can’t even get to it or get on it or anything like that,” said Denning. “But they were in the process of getting the bleachers and stuff put in to host events on the MLB field.”

MVPCS came out victorious in the Field of Dreams game, dominating the Hitmen 17-0 on a beautiful night in Iowa.

Taite Klumb had quite the game for the Padres, throwing five shutout innings, allowing three hits and two walks while striking out eight batters.

“It almost felt like we were back in little league for a little while with the backstop but then you look at the other field and just think how they made a movie on this field and played an MLB game on the other field, it was just crazy,” said Klumb.

Klumb also batted 1-for-4 with a walk and six RBIs, including a sixth-inning grand slam.

“They actually put a temporary fence up around the outfield but it isn’t much of a fence,” said Klumb. “So it just went into the cornfield and the kid raised his hands up. We actually had a ground rule double that I guess bounced over the fence but mine must’ve cleared it.”

On top of Klumb’s five RBI-day, Cain Tobin batted 3-for-4 with a double and two walks, Tyson Wentland went 2-for-4 with a double, walk, and two RBIs, Brady Fox drove in three runs on a double and a walk, and Jim Choc went 2-for-5 with an RBI as well.

Keagan Hill went 2-for-4 with a double, Evan Bultsma batted 1-for-3 with an RBI, Isaiah Olson drove in a run on one hit, Blaine Bohr batted 1-for-3 with two walks and an RBI, and Daniel Laufman drove in a run on a walk for the Padres as well.

Wentland and Bultsma threw an additional four shutout innings, combining for two hits, a walk, and seven strikeouts on the mound.

For the Hitmen, Layne Cotton took the loss in 2.2 innings, allowing two hits, six walks, and five runs while striking out four.

Along with Cotton, Blaze Herdman and Gavin Hannan saw time on the mound, combining for 11 hits, nine walks, and 12 runs allowed, striking out three in 5.1 innings.

Herdman, Cotton, Cade Schick, Jett Kliensasser, and Gus Kopecky each tallied hits in the loss.