The Hastings Hawks amateur baseball team is part of the Classic Cannon Valley League (CCVL) which includes smaller towns to the south. They play around 30-40 games per season with roughly half of those games at Veterans Park. The players are typically 18 years or older and mostly from Hastings with a few from surrounding communities like Rosemount and Cottage Grove. Statewide, the largest organization for amateur baseball is the Minnesota Baseball Association. The association will be hosting its 100th state tournament this year and has nearly 300 teams in two classes. The Hawks are part of this organization in Class C competition.

But that information is not why this is being written’ long-time readers of the summer sports section and Brian Schommer’s columns should know the basics as I just laid them out. If you did not, that is perfectly okay as you do now. So, why this story? Simple: almost 300 towns have amateur baseball teams which means almost 300 towns have amateur baseball team boards. The behind-the-scenes volunteers that make everything run, and I am quite proud of the group that we currently have.

This can be looked at in a few ways:

1. As the President of the Hawks board I want to tell you about not only the awesome board members I am lucky to be partnered with currently, but also the amazing board members that have been before us and the partnerships that have developed over the years with the City of Hastings and the various youth sports groups in town. The people that have helped run the behind-the-scenes aspect of the Hawks and all community group boards need to be recognized and celebrated.
2. The Hawks have always wanted to do our part to help keep kids playing baseball in Hastings for as long as possible. This is still and will be a huge goal of ours. Bringing attention to the off the field side of baseball is just as important as the on the field side of things.
3. This is a peek behind the curtains at some of the things a board does to keep an amateur baseball team running.
4. This is another opportunity to bring awareness to not only the Hastings Hawks, but the youth teams that play baseball around town. Residents of Hastings and the surrounding communities do not need to travel far to see affordable and entertaining baseball.
5. Newspapers are required to provide a copy of each edition for archival purposes and documenting the story for remembrance purposes is important.
6. The final aspect is to show the commitment the Hawks have made to improving Veterans Park for all. This is probably the second most relevant piece given the recent plan presented to and approved by Hastings City Council.

For those that did not know, the City Council approved hiring a contractor to explore a complete redesign of Veterans Park in 2024. This is a plan to draw up a pretty picture of a new complex on the existing Veterans Park property including roughly 80 acres of currently unused park property. ‘Pretty picture’ is a term used to describe the conceptual renderings that need to happen to explore funding opportunities for the work to be done. It gives educated estimates for the cost of the conceptual renderings for planning purposes.

With those thoughts in mind, allow me to explain how this all started for me. My story is probably more common than I think in terms of how I ended up joining the Hawks board in 2011.

In 2010, Schommer asked me if I would be interested in announcing some amateur baseball games. Like many Hastings residents, I thought, ‘for Miesville? No thanks.’. But that is not what he was referring to. He said for the Hastings Hawks, and I was like ‘WHO?’.

It is sad that I must admit, I did not know that Hastings had an amateur baseball team that had been around since 1982. What I did know was that my friend needed help with announcing for them, so, I decided to give it a go. Looking back on almost 13 seasons of Hawks baseball, I am amazed at the stories that so many exceptional people have been a part of.

That first season, I met a bunch of wonderful people and decided in 2011 to join the board. I wanted to help transform the baseball field at Veterans Park to be a location that people talk about like they do some of the other historic and unique townball fields around Minnesota, I just did not know it yet. I first wanted to start with a press box, because there was not one. We announced from a picnic table at the fence on the first base side.

Two key board members, Wayne Erickson and Doug Weimer, kept saying they had been trying for years to get one built and it is almost impossible to get done. I’ll never forget the look on Doug’s face when he made it to the top of the steps and walked into the press box that he helped fund. Doug’s health was failing, and he wasn’t sure he would be around long enough to see it through and in 2015, we as an organization built it. We had a lot of great help from Hastings Youth Athletic Association (HYAA), from the High School baseball teams as well as the City of Hastings and others. It truly was a community effort.

As volunteer boards do, people come and go and eventually, the old board had all moved on to other things and the Hawks board was down to three non-player members: me, Kathy Karnick, and Kyle Benson. The team manager was always part of the board, so in total, there were four of us with Shawn Matson being the new team manager. This was the turning point of this chapter of Hawks history. Previous boards each had their chapters in shaping the Hawks, and they did a great job, this just happened to be our turn to write the story.

That was the moment when I was finally able to put into words what had been learned from the previous group of board members. We hinted at and talked about the general idea, and it finally came out as the driving factor behind the Hawks board.

“If it is good for Hastings Hawks baseball, it needs to be good for ALL of Hastings’ baseball because if it is good for all of Hastings’ baseball, it will be good for the Hawks.”

This thought process has guided the board since, starting with the press box all the way up to the most recent upgrades and additions to the park.

So, what does the Hawks board actually do?

A LOT. Our primary goal is to raise enough money for the team to play. Baseballs, umpires, uniforms, equipment, they all cost money. The new board decided we wanted to be able to financially support the team and be able to save for improvements to the park, which we do primarily through concessions. Along with concessions for Hawks games, we also provide concessions for other events on the field. The additional hours open means that we are always shopping to restock concessions, too. We additionally maintain the field, which is a lot of work that takes time to do properly. We provide press box support such as scoreboard and announcing to many of the youth games played at Vets. We hold board meetings in the offseason where we take care of the needed licensing and related business items. Each of those things has their own unique aspect to them.

The thought process of “being good for all of Hastings’ baseball” brought about a change in the type of board members that joined. One friend of the board said the new board members needed to be brought on with a purpose. The purpose at the time was twofold: to bring awareness of Hastings Hawks amateur baseball to the residents of Hastings and to make improvements to Veterans Park that benefits all of Hastings’ baseball. These two things worked hand in hand. The more exposure the team had, the easier it was to earn financial support to build things better for everyone.

The board expanded with the addition of non-players; Troy Nordine, Amie Kaiser, Ryan Hanson, Tony Kaiser, Derek Simon and Johnny Stocker, and manager/player/board members Jordan Jeske, Cole Benson and Cory Wolters. Not all served at the same time, but each has made an impact on the goals of the overall board with several continuing to do so.

The expanded board was finally able to work on one of the biggest frustrations: everyone knew of the Miesville Mudhens but so few Hastings residents knew of the Hastings Hawks, our own town team. The board began targeted efforts to spread the word that Hastings has an amateur baseball team. People started to notice, and attendance seems to increase every year.

This is an ongoing effort for the board, and we have a few members assigned to that task. They do a great job with social media, advertising and putting together game day programs with community sponsors. We also have an improved website that works in conjunction with the team’s solid social media presence.

We invested in our own audio equipment and began our own online radio play-by-play for as many of the Hawks games as we can. Hasting Community Television covers a handful of games for television and has been a great broadcast partner for the Hawks. Coverage in the Journal has greatly increased people’s awareness around the team with the recaps of games and running of the schedule. People outside the town’s baseball circle have taken notice of the hometown team.

At the same time as spreading the word about the team, the Hawks’ support of the rest of Hastings baseball grew exponentially. We began by working with HYAA to have additional games at Veterans Park. The more teams played at Vets, the more the Hawks could open concessions and announce for the youth teams. This created an environment they had never been part of before. Word spread in the baseball community that playing baseball against Hastings teams for kids 14 years old on up in Hastings is a fun time for all no matter what the score ends up being.

As the younger players and their families started to learn about the Hawks, they also understood that there was an option for them to play for their hometown after high school. This started a cycle that has exploded for Hastings baseball. Many of our current players grew up playing on those youth teams years ago.

The board, which was tasked with keeping the Hawks viable for their own season, quickly became a board that was for all of Hastings baseball. We were providing concessions for any event that was played on the field, including Little Raiders Football in the fall. Kids just learning to play on a full-sized baseball field were now having the opportunity to play fall ball on a field that was well taken care of and made to feel like big leaguers in the process. The Hawks began to assist HYAA with their spring tryouts to help with the anonymity and transparency of the process. Concessions began to bring in money that could be saved for projects down the road and the team was building a presence in the community that had never actively been sought before.

Raider Nation and the Hawks began a partnership for their opening day ceremonies. The entirety of the plan was to keep kids in Hastings’ baseball as long as possible. The littlest of kids on up that was formerly Raider Nation are announced as if they were big league players. They step out of the dugout at Vets onto a field that is larger than life to them in that moment and they do it in front of 1,000 people. The smiles and the awestruck looks are a site to behold on a little kid’s face. It immediately gives them a feeling of ‘I want to play here when I get bigger’. This is all facilitated by a partnership of HYAA and the Hawks board.

When 14-year-old kids come to play against Hastings, they take pictures of the field like they are playing at Target Field. They tell their friends, families and even the volunteers in the field that they cannot believe they get to play at a place like Vets. The hometown kids sit back and smile because they know how cool their homefield is because they help make it that way.

The Hawk’s board has progressively assumed more responsibility in the daily care of the field that started with the daily grooming of the infield dirt and progressed to mowing the infield, then edgework for the transitions. Each spring, as part of the City of Hastings “adopt a park” program, the Hawks board organizes a clean-up day for opening the field and all of the teams that will be playing at Vets that summer are invited to help prep the field. This builds a community feel and builds a level of pride in the field with the kids. The kids also get to meet the older Hawks players and work side by side with them to accomplish one goal, to make the field better each year. It is a great team building activity for the all-encompassing ‘Hastings Baseball team’.

Over the years, the board has convinced the Parks Department that rolling the field with a street roller would improve safety and play on the field and now that is done on a yearly basis. We purchased our own zero turn mower for the outfield, and we have assumed every aspect of field maintenance that we can. Some things are beyond the scope of volunteers and the Parks Department still handles those aspects. They have been wonderful partners for the facility’s care. We mow the entire field along with the city crews, we manage the pitcher’s mound and home plate area differently than in the past, we work on all aspects of grooming including maintaining the transitional edges.

One aspect that is often overlooked is teaching the younger players that a huge part of baseball is outside the scope of playing the game. Playing at Veterans Park has become the goal of a lot of these younger kids, and they quickly learn that they play a big role in the success of the park. The expectations of playing at Vets is they help make the field better than it was before they played not only at the cleanup day, but after each of their games, and the Hawks board is there to help them do that.

2021, 22 and 23 have been amazing years for Vets Park. A new scoreboard was installed, the bullpens were upgraded, and batting cages are still in the process of being installed. At the start of 2023, we had the opportunity to utilize an outside company, Minnesota Sod Company, to professionally level the infield which has dramatically improved the safety and playability of the field. That has made a world of difference in the daily care of the facility. Behind all of these projects is the Hawks board as the driving factor. We spearhead the improvement projects, hold discussions with HYAA and Parks to decide a priority list and what can be financially done each year and we move forward together to get the projects done.

Questions have been asked about the most recent project, the batting cages. The biggest question is when? As in, when will they be complete? Unfortunately, that is a hard one to answer. The logistics industry is still messed up and that is causing delays. The project is at a standstill until the turf arrives. It was ordered months ago with the initial target timeframe for delivery being the end of May. That was pushed to the first week of June, which turned into the week of June 19th. Given we are well past June 19th, the hopes are for the turf to arrive soon. Once the turf is installed, the remainder of the setup can be completed, until then, we wait.

The benefit of the cages being delayed is that the Hawks volunteers still have plenty to keep them busy. We spend countless hours each week out at the ballpark. Six core people care for the facilities and equipment the Hastings community needs to play baseball as well as providing the personnel for concessions and to announce for some 80 games a season. This is a community effort and the Hawks do receive outside help from HYAA volunteers as well as other community minded volunteers like the Zgoda family and Ackley family, youth coaches and others to make this happen. Which comes full circle back to how nearly every board member started with this whole crazy adventure.

The Hawks board is small but mighty and we know we have a lot of supporters in the community, for that we are eternally grateful.

If you, the reader, takes anything away from the previous 2800 words, let it be this:

Get out to Veterans Park and watch a baseball game, while you are there, think of the thousands of volunteer hours that go into not just that game, but the field, the concessions, all the behind the scenes work and all the volunteers that love our little slice of heaven.

At a minimum, support our efforts by showing up and enjoying the environment made by everyone involved. We love to see fans enjoying the total picture. Get out there and see just how much positivity has been poured into that field.

While you are there, buy dinner at concessions. Remind your friends, when they go to a place that has concessions to support the concessions stand. The money supports the teams that play on that field.

Join one of the local sports boards. It is rewarding to give back to the community even if you do not have a kid in that sport. We always need volunteers. If you have a specific skill, maybe a board is looking for guidance that you could make a huge impact with. Currently, the Hawks are in need of an engineer’s assistance for potential upgrades to the field. We also need people that enjoy being at the ballpark and working in concessions or running the scoreboard. Have questions, shoot me an email at president@hastingshawks.com.

Finally, consider supporting the goals of the organizations out there to give every kid in Hastings an amazing sports experience when the time comes to update a facility that has been the same for the past 40 years. The time will come when the community is asked to financially support a major project at Veterans Park, we hope that you can say yes because it’s not just for the users of the field, it will be an amenity that the entire town can be proud of.