If you build it they will come: Kimball teens turn their backyard into a wiffle ball 'field of dreams'

If you build it, they will come.

Instead of sitting around playing video games, brothers Isaiah and Samuel Ehlinger turned their sprawling Kimball, MN backyard into a wiffle ball "field of dreams."

The project began last summer when 15-year-old Isaiah found a YouTube video posted by people in Georgia who had built their own wiffle ball field. Isaiah says he has seen the movie Field of Dreams, but YouTube was his real inspiration.

"Everyone does baseball, but wiffle ball is different," says Isaiah. "I'd never seen a wiffle ball field in Minnesota, and we were looking for something to do. Summers can be low key around here and we didn't want to stay inside.

Samuel and Isaiah Ehlinger dare to be different.

Isaiah and 14-year-old Samuel got to work building a fence and a scoreboard, converting an old lemonade stand into an "ESPN" press box, and covering the pitcher's mound with artificial turf. A school auction in the area yielded some much-needed bleachers, and a neighbor donated a flagpole.

The boys sometimes run an extension cord from the house to the field and fire up a karaoke machine for announcements. This summer, they hope to add lighting and dugouts.

Isaiah estimates the total cost of the field has been $200, and says he's grateful that his dad has helped him and Samuel out financially.

The "ESPN" press box.

The brothers have already set up their own tournaments and charge a $20 signup fee. They are planning to host a wiffle ball league this summer.

According to Isaiah and Samuel, their Kimball neighbors think the field is "awesome." "They've been amazed at how cool it is down there," Samuel says.

"This has really been their project," says their mother Karla. "We have 13 acres and there was this open field we weren't using, so we said do what you want to do. The boys have had so much fun with it."

One of the wiffle ball field's "billboards."

Isaiah and Samuel have advice for those who want to build their own field of dreams. "Start small and keep making it bigger," Samuel says.

And according to Isaiah: "You can do anything you set your mind to, I guess."