In Valley City the Wiffle Ball World Series is No Joke

VALLEY CITY, N.D. (KVRR) – It’s America’s pastime. From the perfectly manicured fields. To the smell of hamburgers and hot dogs. And of course, hearing the crack of the…plastic?!

“When we were probably 20 years old, we said you know we need to go settle some of these younger rivalries, and let’s do a little tournament. Get our buddies back get everybody together. So out first one was 11 years ago,” said Wiffle Ball Word Series president Pat Bresnahan.

“I think after that first year we really realized this was something we want to expand upon,” said VP of Marketing and Operations Trevor Christianson. “I think only had about 7 or 8 teams that first year and we had such a good time doing it. We had such a good time hanging out with friends that we’re like we gotta make this an annual event. So, it’s just slowly grown. We’ve slowly just added pieces to it over the years. Now we’re sitting here with 14 teams this year and a bunch of spectators come out for opening ceremonies and it’s just a fun time.”

That’s right, the Wiffle Ball World Series has been held over the last decade in this backyard in Valley City. Every year trying to top the previous with more spectacle and ceremony. But when the opening ceremonies are over it’s time to start playing, and everyone takes it very seriously.

“I think the fact that we’re friends more arguments happen, right? Because we’re comfortable enough having those discussions with each other,” said Christianson.

“But once you step inside the lines, we don’t like each other at all! We want to crush them!” said World Series commissioner Chad Bergan. “So then you have an entire year of bragging rights. You want to get your name on this trophy. Mine is yet to get on there. We try really hard. We want to beat our friends really badly.”

“You’re going to see a lot of arguments breaking out over rules. You’re going to see a lot of arguments over calls. I don’t envy being an umpire for a lot of these games,” said Bresnahan.

So many teams play in the event every year that a second field was added in the neighbor’s backyard to try and keep the last games of the tournament from being played after midnight. With so much work being put into the product on the field, someone has to take care of the field itself.

“We’ve been in this house almost 40 years,” said Bob Bergan who owns the home in which the tournament is played. “I thought when we did 10 years, we might be over, but we look forward to it every year. It’s a lot of work, but we love having everybody come home and come to the yard. Back in the day we designed this yard for this. To have a field so it works out really good.”

And while it may appear to just be a bunch of guys in the back yard getting very competitive over wiffle ball, a few years ago the tournament started to become bigger than just the back yard.

“About 5 years ago we started raising money for local charities,” said Christianson.  “Overall, we’re probably at about a little over $28,000 for local charities. This year being able to give back to the Open Door Center here in Valley City as well as the Valley City Baseball Association it really means a lot to us and I think that’s how we can really continue to expand this tournament.”

When asked about giving to charities at the event Chad Bergan said, “We can capitalize on this and do something good. Plus, we needed a little bit more motivation for the hard work that this takes to do every year. We needed more fulfillment than just the good time. Don’t get me wrong it’s a great time, but for the work that’s put into it to be able to give back to a community. That’s what keeps us going. We definitely needed that motivation and we tied it to the community for sure.”

Bergan also said, “I wanted a drum line part of the opening ceremony since we started this. That was amazing that’s something I’ll always remember. But without a doubt last year for the Todd Heck memorial scholarship fund. The charity that we made. Our 10 year anniversary, we raised close to $15,000. Just a backyard wiffle ball party. To be able to achieve that goal, give back to the community in that way. That, without a doubt, is a memory that I will never forget.”

When asked if the event has become too big to just simply stop Christianson said, “We talked about ending it. You know, maybe the 10th year. It seemed like a good spot to end it and here we are at year 11 now so I think we have to at least go to 15 or 20. Everybody’s got kids now and like, hey, maybe in a few years it’s the kids playing all out here. It becomes their tournament and it’s something that we can pass on to the next generation of wiffle ballers.”

“When I woke up this morning, I was just like I can not do this another year. But the second I get going and see the opening ceremony and all the thank yous and just the good time everyone is having. It’s like, nope, we’ll keep this going for sure,” said Chad Bergan.

“You know, it’s okay to tap your inner kid every once and a while and go out and just have a little fun,” said Bresnahan. “It’s good for the soul and its turned out to be good for the community too.”

Bob Bergan said, “The boys that do it they love it and it makes me motivated to keep doing it. I guess until I’m unable to mow and water the grass I’ll keep doing it for them because I love having everybody here. Somebody said they’re going to rip up your yard. I said you know, I’m raising kids and family I can always raise grass. We love it.”