By Mark Potts
Valley City Times-Record

Amateur baseball may be making a comeback.
It’s been years since Valley City had an amateur baseball team, but if all goes well Valley City will have a team, The Bridge City Bombers, and maybe even a league to play in this summer.
 “The history of baseball in North Dakota and Valley City goes back quite a ways,” said Kirk Olson, Valley City High School baseball coach and board member for the Bridge City Bombers. “Not having an amateur team in Valley City is not a good thing. A lot of kids go to Jamestown.”
Olson is one of several people in Valley City who are in the process of forming a team, hopefully ready to play by this May.
Ryan Cunningham, also a board member for the Bombers, said they want to do more than just put together an amateur team. They want to establish entertainment for the city of Valley City, a team fans can watch and follow and call their own.
“We want to put together a product that fans will want to come out and watch,” he said.
The Three Rivers Amateur Baseball League is still in its infancy stages, but nine teams besides the Bombers have expressed interest in the formation of a league. From all accounts it would currently be the only amateur baseball league in North Dakota, and would be a big plus to having a team.
“If you have amateur baseball in a league and have a schedule set, it’s a lot easier to do and get people involved,” said Olson.
Cunningham has taken the lead on the formation of the league, contacting interested teams and setting up meetings. He said there will be a league meeting on Feb. 8 in Valley City, after which they hope to have a definite number of teams committed to the league.
Of the 10 different teams that have shown interest in being a part of the league, Cunningham is optimistic that at least eight will commit. Three teams from Jamestown have expressed interest along with established teams from Aberdeen, Enderlin, Fairmount, Mantador and Fargo; and a team currently in development from Mayville.
“We felt we had some people who expressed legitimate interest in seeing baseball expand,” Cunningham said about the idea to form a league. “I think everybody is committed to making it better and seeing amateur baseball expand again in North Dakota.”

For full story see Thursday's edition of the Valley City Times-Record.