1999 Midwest Plains Regional
Babe Ruth 13-15 Baseball Tournament

Babe Ruth Regional opens with a bang 

Sean Pitman
Williston Daily Herald
August 8, 1999

Opening day of the 13-15-year-old Babe Ruth Midwest Plains Regional Baseball Tournament was highlighted with some long bombs, a nail biter and a blow out at Aafedt Stadium Saturday.

Minnesota's Shoreview All-Stars steam rolled North Dakota's Knights of Columbus 21-1 in the 5 p.m. contest. In the 1 p.m. game, South Dakota's Renner Roadrunners and Missouri's Ozark All-Stars played a tight 5-4 contest in which Missouri emerged victorious. Nebraska's Millard West All-Stars silenced a Colorado East Central comeback bid to win the opener 8-3.

Grondahl selected to Babe Ruth Hall of Fame 

Thomas A. Kvamme
Williston Daily Herald
August 8, 1999

As a part of the opening ceremonies at the Midwest Plains Regional Baseball Tournament Saturday night a special honor was paid to a man who has been involved in the local baseball program for numerous years.

Larry Grondahl, who is serving as tournament manager for the Babe Ruth tourney, was introduced and presented a plaque by Ardean Aafedt signifying his induction into the Babe Ruth Hall of Fame.

Aafedt is the man for who the Williston stadium is named.

Aafedt was instrumental in forming the Williston diamond program and he recalled Grondahl becoming involved as a 13-year old.

Grondahl, a Williston native, has remained active in baseball on several levels, and as a result he was nominated an inducted into the prestigious Hall.

An excellent crowd was on hand for the opening night.

Virgil Syverson led the Williston Drum and Bugle Corps as they entertained the crowd prior to the opening ceremony.

The Drum and Bugle Corps Color Guard was also on hand.

Howard Young was called on to lead the crowd with a strong rendition of the National Anthem.

For radio play-by-play of the tourney you can tune in to Ralph Lockwood and KDSR-FM 101.

As usual the Williston ground crew is on top of things and the facility is kept tidy and in shape throughout each game.

The weather may have been a little gloomy for the morning session, but by evening it was a beautiful setting.

Pittsburg, Kan., had a strong summer on the diamond with four state champions being crowned in Babe Ruth ball.

Pittsburg won titles in age categories 10, 12, 13 and 14-15.

Speaking of Pittsburg, a major-leaguer who will no doubt be a part of a trivia question some day hails from near that locale.

Dan Smith, the starting pitcher for the Montreal Expos, gave up the 3,000th hit to Tony Gwynn of the San Diego Padres Friday night.

Smith is from Girard, a small town near Pittsburg.

Special thanks to Alec Creighton of Flagler, Colo., for his assistance on providing a web page which in turn is linked to the www.willistonherald.com.

You can check out Creighton's site at www.recordbook.com/williston.