A Minneapolis business owner, Wagner is organizer and president of the Expedition League which he says has 10 teams with owners, including him and his wife, Connie, who own the teams in Pierre and Dickinson, North Dakota.

They will live in Rapid City where the league will be based.

The only wrinkle in next year’s schedule is finding a playing field in Rapid City, where the owners are eager to get started but haven’t obtained a lease on a suitable site yet, Wagner said.

The Pierre team will comprise 26 players - including 14 pitchers to make sure no one overworks his arm - who play on college teams and are looking for good summer experience.

Because of college rules, the players can’t be paid. But the teams will pay for their meals and rooms when on the road by charter bus for away games, Wagner said.

“Host families will feed them when they are in Pierre,” he said.

In return, host families will get free season tickets and be recognized in other ways with discounts and some special treatment at games, he said.

Bill Sarringar, a board member and past president of the Post 8 American Legion baseball program in Pierre, spoke at the news conference in support of the new Expedition League team.

He’s had three sons play American Legion as well as high school baseball in Pierre and one son is playing at Northern State University in Aberdeen.

The new summer league team slated to start play in Pierre “might be an option” for his son, who is hoping to play somewhere after college.

“I don’t think there will be a lot of conflict in schedules,” at the newly renovated Hyde Stadium between the new collegiate league and American Legion teams made up of middle-school and high school age players, Sarringar said.

Largely that’s because of a cooperative spirit and the fact the city and private donors have committed to spending a lot of money improving Dan Kelly Field to make it a good place to play baseball games rather than serve mostly as a practice field, he said.

Mayor Steve Harding said for two years he’s been involved in the talks with Wagner and others about bringing the Expedition League to Pierre.

“To bring this level of baseball to our community is exciting,” Harding said during the news conference on Monday.

Farnsworth said he’s upped his department’s maintenance budget to $17,000 for 2018 from $10,000 where it’s been for years, to make sure the renovated Hyde Stadium field is kept up to snuff for the Expedition League games.

Other added spending will be part of his 2018 budget, while more than $200,000 will be spent on the Dan Kelly field so more American Legion games can be played there, Farnsworth said during the news conference.

Wagner said college baseball coaches will help the new league fill rosters by recommending players.

He estimates that about 25 percent of college players are playing in summer leagues now, so many college coaches in the region will be glad to point players to the Expedition League to gain more experience, Wagner said.

He expects to have much of his roster for the Pierre team drawn up in the next two months. Other players will become available next spring, he said.

He said there are 40 to 45 collegiate-level summer leagues across the nation, involving 400 to 450 players, all about 19 to 21 years of age, since they need college eligibility remaining to play in such a league.

“This part of the country,” was devoid of such a summer league, which caught his interest, Wagner said.

“These kids . . . really want to get noticed by the scouts,” he said. The Expedition League will provide them that opportunity, he said.

Over the next few weeks, he will lead a contest of sorts to choose a name for the new Pierre team, Wagner said. To prime the pump, he announced a list of six possible names: Freedom, Ranchers, River Rats, Settlers, Stallions and Trappers.

He welcomed other ideas and said people can write in their choices.

One person at the news conference suggested Cowboys, which was the name of a previous baseball team in Pierre.

It will take attendance of about 500 at each of the 32 home games to break even, Wagner said. “We are going to work our butts off to get that many,” he said. “I think we will exceed that amount.”

Season tickets for the 32-game will cost $249,or about $7.50 per game, although discounts and other deals likely will be part of the package, Wagner said.

“We are close to hiring a general manager,” he said. “We have it narrowed down to two candidates and should have a decision within about a week.”

The general manager will work year-round, as will an assistant general manager and one or two account representatives who will sell sponsorships and ads, including for the signboards around the field.

The team coach and assistant coaches will work during the season, a schedule which might fit college coaches or assistants looking for summer work, Wagner said.

Pierre will be in the North, or Lewis Division, with teams in Aberdeen, Dickinson, Minot, North Dakota and Brandon, Manitoba, Wagner said.

The South, or Clark, Division, will include teams in Rapid City, Spearfish, Casper, Wyoming, Hastings, Nebraska and Gering/Scottsbluff, Nebraska. The 64-game season will include a mid-summer all-star game and a post-season playoff.

The Pierre team will need a cohort of seasonal employees who work each game, maybe a dozen, to make sure everyone has fun, Wagner said.

“Our goal is to have the place packed and really rocking,” he said. “The fun factor is going to be really high.”