The Duluth youth baseball community came together to honor Dave Norlander, a man who has left a lasting impact.

“A good coach can change a game. A great coach can change a life. And that was my brother,” said Paul Norlander, Dave’s brother.

The Art Von Memorial Baseball Tournament is memorable for many reasons, but this year’s tournament was extra special. Duluth 709 Baseball voted to name Field E of the Lake Park Sport Complex in honor of Dan Norlander. The official ceremony took place Sunday at 3:30, as the final matchups of the tournament began to wrap up.

“Outside of this being the 30th annual Art Von Memorial Tournament, which is the longest standing youth baseball tournament, I believe in the state, we’re honoring one of our legacy supporters over the years, a gentleman by the name of Dave Norlander, who gave over 25 years of his life as a non-parent to really making the game go around here. And we want to recognize his family and his contribution as part of our ceremony today,” said Seth Marsolek, tournament director and past player under Norlander.

The field will now remain a permanent reminder of the impact Norlander has left on Duluth baseball.

“The field itself is basically our hall of, our role of honor, our hall of fame. There’s only so many fields to go around. There are currently only three fields named after people that have had lifetime commitments to youth baseball in northern Minnesota. And today, today Dave will become the fourth. It’s something that is not taken lightly around here,” said Marsolek.

Dave’s legacy now lives on in not only the field, but every one of the hearts he has touched.

“A lot of people didn’t know is Dave coached almost 25 years and didn’t have a kid in the program for any of those 25 years. And that’s a truly selfless act. That’s amazing,” said Paul Romano, Norlander’s friend.