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If you build it, they will come: Fleming, Sask., ball tournament goes international

Fleming, Saskatchewan sits about 2½ hours southeast of Regina on the Trans-Canada Highway and it's a lot further from New Zealand — but that hasn't stopped a Kiwi under-19 fastball team from entering a men's tournament there this weekend.

Home to 84 people, Fleming also sports a dug-down fastball diamond, complete with lights and advertising on the home-run fence.

Tournament spectators can expect to see the village's crown jewel lit up over the next few days.

"It had been a dream of not just myself, but others on our Fleming Jets ball team," said Rick Hamm, a Fleming resident and one of the brains behind the idea.

According to Hamm, the idea was shelved for years due to cost constraints but when Hank Green, a community volunteer and friend of Hamm's, died in 2002, the community decided it was time to turn their dream into a reality.

If you build it, they will come

To turn what was once a baseball field into a fastball field, the infield had to be dug down roughly four feet, which accommodated drainage.

The work was all done on a volunteer basis.

The diamond's roots run deep in Fleming.

"In the early 1900s, this area was all baseball," Hamm said. "There was a semi-professional league here at one time."

In fact, it was the team of the era, the Fleming Colts, who chose the location that would become the current diamond. The Colts built their baseball diamond on a slough, which contributes to the field's sunken look, setting it apart from others on the prairie, Hamm said.

Over the years, the village has always been a hotbed for the sport — and fastball is still filling the stands.

"They get more people at the game than live in the town," exclaimed Craig Waterhouse, a tour manager for the visiting team from the New Zealand International Softball Academy.

The international connection

Fleming Jets player Ian Glasser remembers travelling to New Zealand to play fastball about seven or eight years ago.

"People over there in New Zealand are awesome, all laid back and easy-going," Glasser said. "The ball over there was really good."

While there, he billeted with Waterhouse. Local Saskatchewan families have returned the favour on the three occasions the Kiwis have played in Fleming.

"Billeting with locals is quite a phenomenal experience for the boys," Waterhouse said. "It forces them to get more personal with the people."

Through this exchange, the unique relationship between the teams was born. But despite their friendly relationship, Fleming and the Kiwis will be doing fierce battle when they meet on the diamond for a double-header tonight.

The event will be punctuated by a traditional war-dance, Indigenous to New Zealand, performed by the Kiwis, Glasser said.

The first game is set to start at 6:30 p.m CST.