Mendota Heights Youth Baseball Team to Play in Baseball Hall of Fame Tournament

It’s the trip of a lifetime for a young baseball player, said Dennis Gould, who is taking his third son’s team to the Cooperstown Dreams Park Tournament in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Cooperstown, the home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, is also home to the Dreams Park, where 12-year-old teams and younger from across the county come for an unforgettable baseball experience.

The Mendota Heights 12-year-old traveling team will compete against 95 other teams in the Week Five session of the tournament, starting with a game on Sunday. The team will play at least seven games in the tournament and also visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Team members also compete in pitching, throwing, hitting and baserunning competitions and participate in pin swaps.

“You can only go when you’re 12,” said Larry Morse, traveling director for the Mendota Height Athletic Association. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Eleven members of the Mendota Heights team are going on the trip. All live in either Mendota Heights or Sunfish Lake.

Team members, coaches and parents stay at on-site accommodations in Cooperstown. Many will also take side excursions to baseball games on the trip. The players raised $750 each to attend the camp, a fee which doesn’t include travel expenses.

A team from Brooklyn Park will also be in the Week 5 tournament, along with teams from California, Georgia, Maryland, Florida, Illinois, Utah and several other states.

Opening ceremonies were Saturday evening. Games start Sunday and each team plays two pool games Sunday through Tuesday. Single-elimination games start Wednesday with the tournament championship on Thursday night. No Minnesota team has ever made the finals, said Morse.

It’s the third trip to the tournament for Knights' coach Gould, who went with a combined team of Lakeville and Mendota Heights players to the tournament six years ago.

“Watching the kids have such a great time is the best thing,” said Gould, “the memories that I know the kids will have forever.”

“Just playing at the field at the Hall of Fame,” said Gould's son Peter, when asked what he was looking forward to. Two of Peter’s brothers played in the tournament in previous years. “They said they just had a really good time, that it’s really fun.”

To follow the team in the tournament, see the website: www.cooperstowndreamspark.com. Game tournament scores and schedules are posted daily and there’s also a live webcam and gamecam.