‘Larchwood is baseball’: A look at the town’s pastime

LARCHWOOD, Iowa (KELO) — Small towns are the backbone of our country, and each one of them has its own unique story to unpack.

The original site of Larchwood, Iowa was given as a grant by the U.S. government to Charles Holder, who transferred it to Jesse Fell. He was actually a close friend of Abraham Lincoln.

Fell was responsible for laying a lot of the early groundwork for Larchwood. They have a walkway named after him, and he even imported and planted Larch trees, which is what Larchwood is named after. Those trees can still be seen in the city park today.

Larchwood attributes its first year to 1872. It grew a lot in its early years. The railroad was built through the town in 1886, which helped business boom and the population expand. Then, Larchwood rode the waves of history through the Great Depression and World Wars, but one thing remained constant: baseball.

“Larchwood is baseball. That’s as simple as it is,” longtime Larchwood native Lyle Grotewold said.

Baseball in Larchwood can be traced back to 1894. Ron Kramer and Grotewold continued that tradition.

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“When we got in the fifties, that is when baseball came alive for me,” Grotewold said.

“That was about the only thing to do. We didn’t have a golf course, so that was our favorite thing to do outside of hunting and fishing,” Larchwood resident Ron Kramer said.

Grotewold and Kramer were teammates in Larchwood for about 6 years. In 1959, Kramer helped send Larchwood to the state tournament in Redfield.

“In the 10th inning, I got a base hit to drive in the winning run for us. We had win that to go on to the state tournament,” Kramer said.

Larchwood has been invited to South Dakota’s tournament for decades. Grotewold remembers the 1959 state tournament fondly.

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“Well, we walked into the ballpark and the first thing we heard was, ‘Go home, you Haybalers,’ or something like that. Huron, South Dakota was supposed to win it all, and we beat them 20 to 3. Everything worked well for us.” Grotewold said.

When the tournament was all said and done, the two helped Larchwood take home its only state championship.

“Well, that was something new to us, and that’s been a standing thing. I mean, we had many teams in Larchwood that finished second, but nobody had ever won the championship. So, we were very fortunate,” Grotewold said.

Although baseball in Larchwood has stayed alive for well over a century, the town has seen plenty of change over the years. Grotewold was a longtime contractor and had a hand in its growth through the sixties and seventies.

“We were building 20 houses a year, probably by that time,” Grotewold said.

As Larchwood steadily increased, it was important for Kramer to create a friendly atmosphere.

“Well, I think when the people walk by our home, I think it’s a good thing to go out and try to visit with these people, to let them know that you’re welcome in the town,” Kramer said.

And Grotewold is grateful for the town he has lived in his entire life.

“it’s just a good place to live. We have good people. We don’t have a lot of problems here, so it’s just good family living,” Grotewold said.

Five generations of Grotewold’s family have played baseball in Larchwood, starting with his grandfather in 1900.