Iowa Baseball

I suggest you contact Jim Arp. He can answer all your questions. jarp@perfectgame.org
or call 319-298-2923 and ask for Jim Arp.

Welcome to the Hawkeye state. Ottumwa, Iowa City, Des Moines all have Legion programs. Babe Ruth is not very big here, depending on where you're located, but USSSA is the highest level of competition at the younger ages these days.

There are spring and fall leagues, but you might have to travel a bit. I suggest you bring your son to Cedar Rapids and look us up. He won't believe the kind of baseball passion he will see.

Thank you PGStaff! Sounds exciting! I will definitely call the contact you named. I believe Cedar Rapids is approx. 90 minutes from us.

Looks like our initial info may be incorrect about Babe Ruth and Legion.

While we were there in October doing some house-hunting, we had the opportunity to see one of the initial releases of the movie, "The Final Season". We were all encouraged by the Iowa baseball tradition displayed in this movie.(The movie never made it to PA) We're hoping baseball will be the common thread that leads to our son's eventual acceptance of this move.
Thanks again!

GMC,

I sure hope your son likes Iowa. Ranks fairly high in education. It's just like everywhere else. Lots of good people, some not so good, some real bad ones. Being you're from PA. the weather won't bother you that much. Iowa is about as average as it gets in nearly every way. Being an average person, I love it!

If you talk to Jim tell him I asked you to call. Also you might talk to Steve James, he is in charge of our leagues. My name is Jerry. They'll know who you mean.

Jim even has a couple of very talented sons, one playing in college and one about your sons age. He is really a good guy and loves to help kids if he can.

We don't do much with kids your sons age, but we can help you with information about baseball. Sooner or later, if your son has talent your likely to be involved with us. Every player drafted out of the state (I think it's around 50 or more) or who went to a DI college for the past 14 years has played in our spring or fall wood bat leagues. We're kind of hard to avoid!

BTW, there is a Junior College in Centerville, IA (Indian Hills) which is a baseball factory. Not far from Ottumwa. Guessing that might be close to the area you are moving to. They do lots of clinics and camps and the coach (Cam Walker) And others there are great instructors and people.

We were very involved in that movie. They filmed some of it in our facility. In fact Jim VanScoyac and Tyson Kimm were the real characters played by actors. Both are fulltime employees and work in the office in Cedar Rapids. Tyson's dad is Bruce Kimm who managed the Cubs right before they hired Dusty Baker. They are all from Norway and played for the team featured in that movie. Actually Jim was the coach there.

If you ever want to email me... jerry@perfectgame.org

Best of luck

"Is this Heaven? No, it's Iowa."

quote:

BTW, there is a Junior College in Centerville, IA (Indian Hills) which is a baseball factory

That's exactly what coach Walker called it. A BB factory. He is a great pitching guy from western Canada.

GMC,

Your future and current residence locations and the rest of your story sound very familiar to me. Your husband wouldn't happen to be formerly a high school music teacher and umpire in northwest PA, would he? If so, I have an interesting baseball story for you about our oldest son, who will be attending an Iowa college next fall (from PA) and part of the package will be playing baseball.

Wow! It is a small world! We are definitely living in the snowbelt of PA! Yes, you are correct! My husband accepted a college position in Iowa, and yes, he was a PIAA/Legion Umpire for many years in PA. He is already in Iowa and LOVES it! Now we just need to convince the youngest that this will be a good move! At 12 years old, he just wants good baseball, the opportunity to return to PA to see grandma and his friends once in awhile, and oh, yeah...a hot tub!

What HS is your son currently attending? What college will he attend in Iowa? If it's not too far from us, we'll be happy to attend fall games and wear our Steelers apparel so he isn't homesick!

I'd love to hear the baseball story about your son!

It's a small world!

Here is the story. Your 12 year old and my 11 year old were playing in the same fall ball games last year. You told me about your husband's move and we were discussing my oldest son's search for a college. He isn't a D1 type of player, so he was looking for a smaller school that still offered a 4-year engineering degree. The list of schools like this isn't that big and he was having difficulty finding something he liked. He did a GOOGLE search on your husband's name to see if his school might qualify. His school didn't have the degree program he wanted, but another school in Iowa did and happened to have someone related to the school with the same name as your husband, so it was returned in the GOOGLE search results. He investigated the school, found that it interested him, contacted the baseball coaches, they were interested, we visited, he loved it, they offered him an affordable package to attend (athletic/academic merit combo), and he committed to attend there next year. So, you were partly responsible for a chain of events that led to our son planning to go to school in Iowa (Thanks, I think). It seems to be a great place and I think he will fit in well. The answers to your other questions are Cochranton and Dordt College (the other end of Iowa from where you will be). His new school wears "Black and Gold", so it won't be too big of an adjustment on that front, even though he won't be able to the see the Steelers and Pens as much. I hope you and your family do well and that your son is able to adjust. We moved when our oldest was 11 and it took her a little while to adjust, but she did well in the long run.

Hello!
Yes, I remember the conversation! Congratulations to your son! Yes, that is a very interesting story! It's amazing how the college search and recruiting process can open many opportunities. I hope it turns out to be a good fit!

It's approx. an 11 hour drive for us to go back and forth between PA and IA. Get on I-80 and continue west. We have flown out twice and driven twice. I prefer the drive. Our oldest played college baseball in Fla and our daughter is a Jr. at a Kentucky college, so an 11 hour drive is actually pleasant.

Of note, there is another local who has plans to attend Grinnell College in IA. He was injured playing football, but the last time I spoke with his parents, he may play BBall there.

Please let us know if we can help in way. There are a couple MASH grads at Palmer Chiropractic College in Davenport, 2 locals from MASH who will graduate from Allegheny this spring and have accepted offers to attend med school in Des Moines for the fall, and Ken O'Keefe, former Head Football Coach at Allegheny is an Assistant Football coach at Iowa.

Thanks for sharing your daughter's moving experience. I'm sure he will be fine, but he is a creature of habit and values tradition. He really wanted to graduate from the same HS as his older siblings. After comparing the local HS with the HS he will probably attend in IA, the IA HS clearly has the academic edge. The local PA school has much to offer and, as you know, is a very good school, but education in IA appears to be superior in many areas.

I'm sure our paths will cross during 12 year old All-Stars! Good luck to your older son during the spring season!

Thanks for posting! This website is an incredibly valuable resource for parents and players as they navigate the winding road of the exciting recruiting process. As we transition to a new state, I was hoping we could rely on this site once again for answers to baseball questions related to our younger son. Thank you!

This is a great site. Unfortunately, I didn't find it time for my son's search, but I am still learning a lot.

We will be visiting Iowa very soon to look at college. Will be flying through Des Moine. Was trying to find the location for the Field of Dreams but not sure if we are able to fit it in. Anyways, exciting times for son in finding the right fit.

There was an interesting article in COllege baseball magazine about this HS team from Iowa who has won 80+ games straight. Sort of like the Norway baseball team. Whatever happened after the Norway HS merged with that other HS ?

PGStaff,
If Iowa will be the destination for my son, what are the opportunites for baseball during the summer. Does Iowa have a PG College Summer league?

Thanks

The only PG Collegiate League is in New York. Most college players from Iowa play in other leagues. There is a league called the Iowa Valley League. It is kind of a low key league, but a very good league. Some former pro players and lots of college kids. Actually Norway has a team in the league.

PGStaff,

I now have a reason to explore your state and maybe visit your headquarters there someday.

Will look into the Iowa Valley Summer League in the future!

I see that PG has expanded their College league in Florida. Any thoughts about Arizona or California?

I echo biggerpapi's comment and already planning on visiting the Field of Dreams!

Already slowly building my son's and our winter wardrobe collection!