What summer baseball is like for 2 Hawkeyes playing in Burlington

The afternoon sun beats down on the metal bleachers of Community Field in Burlington, Iowa. Country music echoes around the confines of the 3,200-seat stadium, piercing through air so thick with humidity that it produces sweat upon contact. As a stream of players in navy blue warm up shirts filter through the dugout, Iowa Hawkeye baseball players Ty Mikkelsen and Tate Slagle relocate to a quieter area with a bit of shade.

By the middle of July, this ballpark has become a second home for them. Mikkelsen and Slagle are part of the Burlington Bees collegiate summer baseball team, one of hundreds across the country that provide college players the opportunity to sharpen their skills during the offseason.

The very best go up to New England to play in the Cape Cod League, which churns out Major League talent on the regular. For those that don’t make the cut, there are dozens of other leagues across Appalachia, the Midwest, the Sun Belt, the Southwest and beyond. Pretty much anywhere there are people, there is a collegiate summer league team.

Burlington is one of 20 teams in the Prospect League, which spans across the Midwest and attracts talent from Division I all the way down to the community college level.

Though the competition level varies league to league, the experience is largely the same everywhere. It’s a two-month marathon of nonstop games, exhausting road trips, and valuable reps for players.

“Most of the guys you play summer ball with, you keep up with year-round. You grow pretty close over the summer because you’re with each other 24/7,” Mikkelsen said.

Extra reps especially matter to players like Slagle, set to play second base in that night’s game. It’s something he didn’t get the chance to do in his first season with the Hawkeyes due to playing behind the talented middle infield duo of Kooper Schulte and Gable Mitchell, who both went on to be selected in the MLB draft earlier this summer.

“It’s crazy. You don’t really think about it while you’re there, but looking back at it, I was at second base with [Gable] every single day. Having him tell me the little things I needed to do better, whether it’s my attitude or anything fielding or throwing wise, it’s great to hear from him,” Slagle said.

For this reason, while the goal is always to win games, summer baseball is essentially one big offseason training program. Players go in with detailed strategies for improvement so they can be the best version of themselves when they return to campus.

As a pitcher, Mikkelsen went in ready to work on his command and confidence. Slagle’s plan was to do the same, in addition to playing the field.

“Whatever your program is at school that you know works for you, the coaches here are gonna take that and let you go with it and do your own thing,” Mikkelsen said.

Even though the work is individualized, team building is at the core of what makes summer baseball special. It has to happen quickly in a condensed two month season, forged during late nights on the bus, fishing trips, and rounds of golf before heading to the stadium.

“I did not think summer baseball was gonna be this fun,” Slagle said.

When Slagle takes the field in the top of the first inning, clad in his black and maroon Harry Potter theme night uniform, he’s joined by fellow infielders from the University of Illinois, Mount Mercy and Southeastern Community College.

Most players end up with teams through the connections that their coaching staffs hold, but they can also apply to a team or get scouted. Those connections matter even at the highest ranks of the Cape Cod League. Kyle Alivo, one of Iowa’s breakout stars in 2026, pitched for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks this summer. It’s the same team that former Hawkeye and eventual MLB second round pick Cade Obermueller pitched for in 2023.

After players join a team, they get paired with a host family. Mikkelsen chose to stay with his relatives who live in the area, but Slagle ended up living with a family that had two dogs and two kids.

“It’s kind of challenging at first, just living at some random person’s house,” Slagle said. “But getting to know them and doing everything with them is pretty fun and special.”

Regardless of the living situation though, most of the players’ time is spent at the ballpark. During the college season, they usually play four games a week. In summer league, every day besides Monday is a gameday.

“You’re used to the daily grind, but playing games daily can be challenging on your body,” Mikkelsen said.

“I think it’s a big struggle finding time to get in your lifts when you’re exhausted and getting home at two or three in the morning,” Slagle said. “Also finding ways to get in your nutrition and everything. It’s pretty tough but it’s really important.”

Compared to their raucous day camp games, coach-ejection-fueled comebacks and extra inning walkoff wins, the Bees’ 13-3 mercy rule victory was one of the tamer games of the season. Slagle went hitless with a towering fly ball hit to the warning track and a lineout smoked to third base. Mikkelsen had the night off, having pitched a few days prior.

Not every game is trophy case material, but each pitch and each at-bat plays a valuable role in a player’s overall development. As two of the 36 Bees competing for playing time, Mikkelsen and Slagle might go multiple games in between appearances. In the meantime, they continue to throw, hit and lift before they return to the Hawkeyes in August, armed with skillsets sharpened by 68 days of travel and development.

“It was a grind, but once it was done you knew it was a memory that would be there for a while,” Mikkelsen said of the team’s early season road trip to Pennsylvania.

It was a statement true of that short stretch at the end of May, but also their summer in Burlington as a whole.

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