BRANDON — Nearly three years ago, Chris Brown was giving his acceptance speech as part of his induction into the South Dakota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame when he decided it was the perfect opportunity to plant a seed.
A year prior, the Brandon Valley Baseball Association had hosted the 2021 South Dakota American Legion Baseball Tournament with great success, and the focus among BVBA leaders in the aftermath had shifted to the possibility of taking on something even bigger — the South Dakota Amateur Baseball Association Class A and B state tournaments.
So with many of the SDABA commissioners and league presidents in attendance that night, Brown decided to take a swing.
“We just kind of put it on the table that night,” said Brown, who serves as the sponsorship representative for the BVBA. “Our president and I talked about doing that, and he thought it was a wonderful idea. That’s where we kind of started to get the ball rolling and putting the idea in the commission’s head that Brandon, with this new facility at First National Bank Field, was interested in potentially hosting the tournament someday.
“I don’t believe the commission was looking for an alternative, but we presented our idea to them. And they had interest.”
Chris Brown delivers his acceptance speech after being inducted into the South Dakota Amateur Baseball Association Hall of Fame in November 2022.
Photo courtesy of SDABA
This year’s state amateur championships will begin Wednesday, Aug. 6, and will run through Sunday, Aug. 17. Games will be played at First National Bank Field at Aspen Park in Brandon, while a pair of Class B tournament games will also be played on Friday, Aug. 15, in nearby Valley Springs.
“We had Brandon on our docket, so to speak, for the last couple of years,” said SDABA President Dale Weber. “They were very interested in hosting it this year, so we awarded them the state tournament just because of their enthusiasm.
“That played a big part, and I think it’s going to go over very well.”
It’ll be the first time since 2018 that the state amateur tournament has been hosted anywhere other than their typical host site at Cadwell Park in Mitchell. That year, Augustana served as the tournament host. The last time the state tournament was hosted outside of Mitchell or Sioux Falls was in 1979, when Freeman hosted the games.
However, the hiatus will be brief — the tournaments are scheduled to return to Mitchell next year.
“Mitchell does a wonderful job with this tournament, but we just thought we were a nice alternative in the state’s most populated county to bring that small-town feel to the amateur tournament in Minnehaha County,” Brown said. “We’re looking to partner with Mitchell and partner with the amateur board down the road and hopefully have a rotation where maybe Mitchell hosts twice and we host once (there used to be a similar rotation between Mitchell and the Birdcage in Sioux Falls).
“We’re just going to try and build upon what Mitchell has done and what Mitchell has built and the atmosphere they bring to the amateur tournament.”
They were very interested in hosting it this year, so we awarded them the state tournament just because of their enthusiasm. That played a big part, and I think it’s going to go over very well.
SDABA President Dale Weber
When it came time to lay out their proposal, BVBA leaders were appropriately met with plenty of questions by SDABA officials.
The magnitude of the 12-day tournament was well beyond the scope of anything the BVBA had organized in the past. However, the accomplishment of hosting a successful Legion tournament in 2021 appeared to give the BVBA significant momentum during the discussions.
There’s also an assumption that Mitchell had earned a well-deserved break as the host site.
“We’re very fortunate that our members and our association want to take this thing on and give this a shot because I think we’re going to do a great job with it,” Brown said. “I really think the people who come to town are really going to enjoy what we’re going to do with the tournament, but it is a large venture to put on, to say the least.”
A view of the scoreboard at First National Bank Field on Thursday, July 31, 2025, at Aspen Park in Brandon.
Photo courtesy of Brandon Valley Baseball Association
Five days of the championships will feature at least four games. The first weekend of the Class A tournament will take place Aug. 8-10 at Fossum Field in Aberdeen. Six of the eight Class A teams that qualify will then wrap things up the following weekend in Brandon and Valley Springs.
Brown’s son, Matt, is playing this season for the Tabor Bluebirds, who knocked off Lesterville 11-8 on Tuesday night to claim the District 6B title.
While watching his son play this summer, Brown began honing in on the fan experience throughout the South Central League. He noticed how the seats behind home plate are generally vacant and how often fans prefer to back up their trucks along the outfield fences to watch from their truck beds.
The BVBA had explored the idea of potentially adding permanent seating in the outfield at First National Bank Field. However, the construction costs were unable to justify the amount of seats that could be added, and the elimination of several parking spots was also a concern.
Therefore, BVBA leaders began looking into alternative options, and given what Brown had witnessed in the South Central League, a unique VIP option emerged.
This year, a total of 21 VIP spots
will be available for purchase
at First National Bank Field. The $155 bundle (per session) features six game tickets, a bucket of beer, soda or a combination of both and a personal parking spot along the outfield fence.
In right field, a private bar will provide service for 14 VIP spots, while seven spots in left field will have access to a beer and soda stand located just around the corner. Runners will also be on hand to accept orders and deliver drinks directly to vehicles in all 21 VIP spaces.
“Hopefully everybody in those outfield spots will get a great look at the game and our facility and have one heck of a time while they’re out there,” Brown said.
Throughout the 12 days of action, there will undoubtedly be some challenges that present themselves, but Brown is confident in the informative notes that were taken by the BVBA when they hosted the Legion tournament in 2021, many of which have allowed association leaders to implement new tools to address those challenges.
One of those hurdles is the parking situation at Aspen Park. However, with just one field being used at the park during the state amateur tournaments, a litany of alternative parking spots are made available, allowing umpires, commissioners, players and volunteers to have their own designated areas for parking.
Additionally, volunteers in golf carts will be on site to transport those who require assistance in getting from their parking spot and into the ballpark, and vice versa.
Of course, there’s always the threat of inclement weather, which could pose its own problems, but Brown says the artificial infield turf at First National Bank Field typically allows games to resume 10 to 15 minutes after the rain has stopped.
“I think that’s one advantage that we do have with the turf facility at First National Bank Field,” Brown said. “A lot of the challenges we ran into in 2021 with the Legion tournament, I think we learned a lot from some of those things.”
Brown also emphasizes cheap beer and food as a key selling point. There will be 16-ounce beers sold for $4, and buckets of beer will be available for purchase at $20. If either team hits a double in the third inning of any game, two Busch Lights will go on sale for $6, and likewise in the sixth inning of any game, two Coors Lights will be priced at $6.
The crowd stands up for the seventh inning stretch during the Class B state amateur championship game on Sunday at Cadwell Park in Mitchell.
Matt Gade / Mitchell Republic
A former South Dakota State standout and 2022 amateur Hall of Fame inductee, Brown has seen his fair share of state amateur baseball tournaments throughout the years. His amateur baseball career included two separate stints with Brookings (1997-2002 and 2006-09), during which the Cubs captured six Class A championships. He also helped lead his Minnesota hometown team, the Green Isle Irish, to a state title in 2003.
“What we’re just trying to do is bring together some of the best ideas that we’ve seen from Mitchell and some of the best ideas we’ve seen in Minnesota and implement them into what we’re going to do in Brandon to bring this tournament to life,” Brown said. “We also want to thank the commission for taking a chance on us. They took a chance in making this decision to come to Brandon, South Dakota, and we greatly appreciate the opportunity they’ve given us.
“We are humbly very excited to host this tournament and bring it to life here in Minnehaha County.”
Weber, who has served as the SDABA’s lead executive since 1988, understands the immense work that lies ahead for the BVBA, but the hosts’ enthusiasm in the undertaking has reinforced his confidence in their ability to successfully get it done.
South Dakota Amateur Baseball Association President Dale Weber poses for a photo during the District 5B championship game at The Pond in Parkston. Weber has served as SDABA’s President since 1988. (Matt Gade / Republic)
The longtime president is hopeful that attendance will see an uptick this year.
“I think the people who come to watch this amateur baseball are going to be in for quite a treat,” Weber said. “They call it amateur baseball, but believe me, some of those guys are pretty darn good ball players. I don’t care if they’re 45, 50 years old. They can still play the game, and they’re going to put on quite a show for anybody that shows up and watches them play.”
It’s undoubtedly an exciting time of the year for the leaders in the BVBA, who had ambitious goals of hosting high-end tournaments when First National Bank Field first opened to the public in 2018.
Now, a tournament that’s near and dear to Brown’s heart is here, and his excitement is palpable.
“There’s great pride for me because I love amateur baseball,” Brown said. “I love the atmosphere around it. My son played last night in Wynot, Nebraska, in the districts, and it was just a fun evening at the ballpark. It was a small town. It was a good cheeseburger. There was a 50/50 drawing, and it was a good, competitive game between Lesterville and Tabor.
“For me, I’m just excited to see all of that come to our community and to also introduce the community of Brandon to what amateur baseball is all about. There are some phenomenal players that’ll be playing in this tournament both at the Class A and Class B levels, and for me, as an old former player, that’ll also be something that’ll be real fun to watch.”