STEELE SPORTS
HRL Aces general manager and athlete Evan Sibbet keeps his eye on the ball as he attempts to put the ball in play against the HRL Blue Sox last week. Sibbet has been a lifelong fan of the game and has competed in the HRL since 2016. Staff photo by Johnnie Phillips
Whether you played it before organized baseball games or during a backyard grill-out, I’m sure that most people can say that they have played wiffleball at some point or another in their lifetime.
Well, the same sport that helped pass the afternoon hours and create electric memories is now busting out of the backyard ranks to become an actual organized sport of its own.
Enter the Home Run League - Twin Cities (HRL), a league bringing wiffleball to the big leagues.
If you are picturing a typical wiffleball game involving a skinny, yellow bat and a white ball, your imagination is absolutely correct, as both are a part of the game.
However, what I expected to see and what I actually witnessed when I attended a game between the HRL’s Aces and Blue Sox at Central Park in Hopkins were two drastically different things.
When I approached the outdoor hockey-turned wiffleball diamond at the park, I was greeted by 63-mile-per-hour pitches that broke multiple feet at a time, and cracks of the bat that sounded like minor explosions as players launched home runs.
Over the course of a standard six-inning game, I saw teams give it their all to win, while still keeping a focus on the game’s most important element: having a good time.
While I watched from the outfield with my camera and notepad, athletes not in the game watched on from lawn chairs with beers cracked and loud music blasting from a speaker.
According to Evan Sibbet, Aces general manager, one of the reasons he enjoys the HRL is not just the top-tier competition, but the ability to take the field with players who all share the same love for the game.
Since the league was founded in 2004, it has grown from a group of 15 friends to a full-blown league with anywhere from 16-24 teams competing on an annual basis for the HRL championship.
Expansion has been the name of the game for the league as it originally hosted team from the Twin Cities metro area, but has also come to include a host of teams from Eagan as well.
Those interested in getting a glance at what wiffleball is trending towards nowadays or maybe even thinking about setting up a team should check out the HRL at its home website at www.hrltwincities.com.
With summer in full swing and Owatonna’s abundance of fields and outdoor rinks, it’s definitely high time to bust out the old bats and balls, grab the coolers and get some game going around town!