MITCHELL — Two of Dimock-Emery’s biggest fans reside in New Mexico. 

Bob and Debbie Kitchens, who live in Sante Fe, New Mexico, have been regulars at the Class B state amateur baseball tournament for the past five years. The Kitchens’ son, Gene, and their grandson, Drew, are Dimock-Emery Raptors. 

And despite the 17-hour and 925-mile distance, the Kitchens have been Raptor supporters at Mitchell’s Cadwell Park for multiple days every August. 

“It’s like watching a pro game coming here,” Debbie said. “It’s nice and fun and enjoyable.”  

This year, they missed the first week of the 12-day tournament. But made the annual trek to Mitchell after Dimock-Emery qualified for the Class B quarterfinals on Thursday. 

“When they told me they won, I said ‘Bob, I guess we are going to South Dakota,’ ” Debbie said. 

They left Sante Fe at 4 p.m. Wednesday, drove straight through and arrived in Mitchell at 8 a.m Thursday. 

“We jumped in the car and away we went,” Bob said. 

In the past several years, the Kitchens have developed a deep appreciation for the Raptors and South Dakota amateur baseball. In fact, they’d rather watch South Dakota amateur baseball than Santa Fe Fuego, an independent professional baseball team in the Pecos League of Professional Baseball Clubs. 

“They play in our hometown and these guys are pretty much better than they are,” Bob said. “We enjoy it a lot more. We have been there and watched them because they are a local team. I’d rather come and do this. We really love this. These guys are good ballplayers.”

Debbie echoed her husband’s sentiments about South Dakota amateur baseball compared to Santa Fe Fuego.  

“We went to one of the games and it was nothing like this,” Debbie said. “It was so boring. You have fun here.”

The Kitchens have described Cadwell Park and the Class B state tournament atmosphere to their New Mexico friends, but to no avail. 

“They make fun of us,” Debbie said. “They tell us ‘How do you watch baseball for 10 days?’ I said ‘You have to go try it. You have to go see it. You’ll love the field. Everything. It’s beautiful.’ ”  

While the Kitchens have embraced Mitchell and Cadwell Park, the Raptors have done the same thing to them. 

“They come up to us, ‘It’s about time you guys showed up,’ ” Bob joked. “We are like their lucky charm. Because we are always here.”

Gene, who grew up in Santa Fe, played college baseball at Dakota Wesleyan University. The long-time South Dakota amateur baseball player has been a key Raptor the past several seasons. Drew joined the Raptors after also playing college baseball for the Tigers. 

As a result, it gave Bob and Debbie another reason to root for the Dimock-Emery Raptors. 

“We went to Phoenix to watch Drew play in that baseball tournament for spring break, a college tournament down there,” Bob said. “That’s been fun watching him play and then to watch this with the two of them, it’s even better.”