Superior woman opens indoor field of dreams
Nov. 29—TOWN OF SUPERIOR — A new business in the town of Superior offers an all-season baseball facility paired with a roster of quality trainers.
Northland Ball Club, owned by Cyndi Dennis, is dedicated to helping young baseball players flourish. It's a place for them to train starting with the basic mechanics and working their way up, she said.
Her goal was to build a place where kids could play year-round baseball in the Northland, with an added focus on arm care and training.
Baseball is big in Dennis' family. Two of her five children are ball players, and Dennis herself has been an assistant coach for four seasons. She listed off certifications with USA Baseball and Safe Sport, as well as CPR certification.
Her field of dreams is housed in a 3,200-square-foot post frame building at 3625 E. Wick Road. The structure is insulated, heated and carpeted with 5 millimeter padded turf. It houses a batting cage; a pitching machine that throws at speeds up to 85 mph; a pitching mound and more.
There are a few local options for indoor batting cage access, Dennis said, but Northland Ball Club offers a dedicated space that is not surrounded by the lights and noise of arcade machines.
Trainers working with Northland Ball Club include former Minnesota Twins prospect Eli Tintor; college catcher Carter Kalin, a Superior High School graduate who currently plays for Itasca Community College; and Abe Ahlberg, a Solon Springs High School shortstop and pitcher who was named the
Superior Telegram's Baseball Player of the Year for 2022.
There are many ways to access Northland Ball Club, from clinics and classes to birthday parties.
Day camps will be offered every four to six weeks during the off season. Anyone can sign up for a day camp. The cost for each camp varies, depending on who is teaching the camps and whether it runs for one or two days.
A number of classes and clinics have been set up for December and January including catching clinics for ages 6-18, hitting classes for ages 7-18, and a baseball pitching clinic for ages 10-18.
Classes will start in January for the youngest players, including monthly learn and play sessions for ages 2-4 and a class on fundamentals and introduction to game play for ages 5-6.
"And they can start competition as early as age 7," said Dennis, who also works as a driving instructor.
Northland Ball Club is currently seeking members ages 8-15 to join the Northland Foresters youth travel baseball teams. Team membership includes practices twice a week, free batting cage use once per week, private lessons with the team coach and a lesson with Tintor once a month. Four tournaments are included in the fee.
"We have some kids who have played together in the past that are on the team. And we have kids that are brand new, because we're taking anybody regardless of their skill because our job is to train them to make them better," Dennis said.
For those not interested in joining the team, a monthly membership of $30 gives participants access to sign up for private lessons with trainers and half-price batting cage sessions.
The facility is even available for birthday parties. Parties include an hour-long group lesson with a coach of the family's choice followed by time for food and gifts.
Visit the
Northland Ball Club Facebook page
or email
to learn more about the new business.
