Black Hills Energy Stadium
Spearfish, SD
Review by Mike
Black Hills Energy Stadium in Spearfish, South Dakota is the home of the Spearfish Sasquatch of the collegiate Independence League. Spearfish is just down the road from the tourist towns of Deadwood and Rapid City, home of Mount Rushmore. I’m not sure if that helps attendance at all, but if it does, there’s not much room to pack them in.
This is an intimate little ballpark, with the emphasis on “little”. A small grandstand of benches, with two rows of fixed seats, wraps the infield, close to the lines. There is a small roof on the 3rd base side, but it is sharply angled. I point this out because, unusual for baseball, the field is oriented northeast to southwest, which means that all of the fans will be staring straight into the setting sun for evening games and the roof will afford no shade whatsoever.
I visited after the season was over and offseason work had begun. The workmen were kind enough to allow me a quick explore, but there really isn’t much to see. There are a couple of buildings down either line, which I assume to be a clubhouse and a concession/rest room facility and a simple scoreboard in left center field, which is probably hard to see with the setting sun blazing into your eyes.
The stonework of the main structures is very nice, it’s easy to get to, right off the highway, and it’s all very clean, but unless the in-game experience is extraordinarily well done, Black Hills Energy Stadium seems to lack a little spark. Maybe they have Mount Rushmore president races during the game? Let’s hope so.
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2021
176
