The Cape Coral Outlaws 12-under travel baseball team is headed to Cooperstown, N.Y., to play in the Cooperstown Dreams Park Tournament starting Aug. 14. Players include, in front from left, Vellum Brant, Nick Hulfeld, Gianni Williams; middle row from left, Tyler Turnbull, Spencer Fisher, Tim Watters, Dylan Ortiz; back row, from left, Ben Podgorski, Mike Castellanos, Jordan Allen, Kenny Gutierrez. You can help the team with donations toward costs by calling (239) 810-1165.

For a group of Cape Coral youth baseball players, their “Field of Dreams” is about to become reality.

The Outlaws, a 12-under travel baseball team, are heading to Cooperstown, N.Y., to play in the Cooperstown Dreams Park tournament that begins Aug. 14. The week-long tournament features more than 100 teams from all over the United States.

“We couldn’t be more excited,” said Outlaws manager John Hulfeld. “We’re just glad we have the opportunity to play in this premiere tournament.”

Cooperstown Dreams Park hosts baseball tournaments weekly, from early June through the last week in August. Almost 1,200 teams make the journey to play in Cooperstown each summer and just as many are turned away.

Angela Fisher, the Outlaws team coordinator, had doubts the team would get invited.

“We put in our bid back in October and then we waited,” she said. “Starting in mid-March we called every week hoping a space would open up.”

Finally, in April they got the exciting news.

“I received a phone call from John (Hulfeld) saying that we got the invite for August and did we still want to go?” Fisher said. “It was such an emotional moment because I knew how much this meant to our kids and at the same time I knew how much work was ahead of us.”

Getting to Cooperstown is a challenge all its own. The team must fly to Rochester, N.Y., then rent vans to take the players on a three-hour drive to Cooperstown. The coaches are driving up with all the players’ equipment.

The Cape Outlaws have been together since 2008. The team consists of 10 players from Cape Coral and one from Buckingham.

“It’s pretty neat having five players from Verdow (Park, Cape National) and four from Koza (-Saladino Park, Cape American) playing on the team,” said coach Kevin Pickett. “They recently competed against each other during the District 9 All-Star tournament and it is great to see them play their hearts out for their home fields, but now we are back as one big unit and ready to take on Cooperstown.”

For one Outlaw player, the tournament will help him connect with family.

“My dad and grandfather are coming down from Canada to watch me play for the week,” said starting pitcher Jordan Allen.

The Outlaws are the only team from Lee County to make the trip to Cooperstown this year, but they are not the first team to have played in the tournament. The first Cape team to play in Cooperstown was the Sharks in 1991. The Sharks featured former Mariner High School and FGCU player Casey Coleman, who now plays professionally in the Chicago Cubs’ minor league system.