Bill Taunton Stadium is home to Willmar High School, Ridgewater College, two local VFW teams, a Legion post team, amateur team and a Northwoods League franchise.

In August of 2010, Willmar and Bird Island were the proud co-hosts to the 2010 Class B & C MN State Amateur Baseball Tournament. Both sites were full of fans from all across the state of Minnesota.

Bill Taunton Stadium Map

Friend of youth, community leader, and Big Ten Umpire, Bill Taunton was instrumental in bringing the American Legion State Tournament to Willmar three times, including 1979, the first full season for this ball field.  A grocery man by trade, this Alabama native gave a generation of teenagers their first steady paycheck.  His avocation was umpiring.  He worked 6 Legion World Series, four as a crew chief, and Big Ten baseball for a decade.  The Air Force veteran was a strong advocate for Legion Baseball on the local and national levels, forcing through a no-tobacco policy in the mid-70s.  A better baseball man would be hard to find.

Born in Aberdeen, South Dakota, Orville Baker was 34 years old when he began working for the city of Willmar in 1954.  He became Parks Superintendent in 1956, a position he held for 21 years until his untimely death in 1977.  Orville was proud of his hometown of Willmar, as well as his work.  He took meticulous care in maintaining the city’s parks and baseball fields, especially Hodapp Field, the town’s ballpark.  When Hodapp was torn down for the new football stadium, the park board dedicated the new baseball field at the edge of town to his memory.