HARTWICK SEMINARY — Louis A. Presutti may not have heard a voice like the character in "Field of Dreams," but he did build it.

And boy oh, boy, did they come. For 10 years now, the Cooperstown Dreams Park and American Youth Baseball Hall of Fame (AYBHOF) has been welcoming droves of eager youths from around the nation and Canada to play baseball in Cooperstown, the home of America's pastime.

It's hard not to spot them. Zipping around the village with the boundless energy only 12-year-olds can muster, kids from the park flood the town and surrounding area in vehicles painted with "Cooperstown Bound" or "Go Dragons!" as soon as the season begins in mid-June. Traveling in packs and almost always in uniform, what stands out most about these kids is their broad, toothy grins.

"It's like baseball Disneyland," said Grey Bozeman, a player with the McHenry County Hurricanes from Illinois on the last day of his week at the park. "It was all great, a great experience."

Asked by his mom, Susan, to describe the week in a single word, Grey thought for a minute and said "perfect."

Even though they aren't playing, parents agree the experience is nothing short of awesome.

"Really, it's a wonderful week for the children," said Francine Provost, whose daughter Marie Eve was playing for the WBL Sparks, an all girl's team from Quebec. "It's magic."

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime, too-good-to-be-true experience," said Susan Bozeman.

What it's not however, is a cheap experience. At $595 for registration per player or coach, a Dreams Park week can quickly wear a hole through a family's wallet. Factoring in travel expenses, accommodations for family members and food, one parent estimated the cost for himself, his wife, and two kids at about $3,000.

However, most families thought the price was more than worth the experience.

"It's just worth it for him to have these memories for the rest of his life," said Scott Burleson, whose son Dylan played during week four.

Candy Williamson, whose son Travis plays for the Jacksonville Nuts from Florida, said it was not only a great experience, but an investment in her son's future.

Presutti, founder of the Dreams Park, said the goal of the park when it was first opened was bring to life his grandfather's dream of giving every player in America a chance to play in the legendary home of baseball.

For players 12-years-old or younger, that dream has come true.

"The best part is the testimonials we have received from the players, coaches and umpires who've visited the Dreams Park," Presutti said. "Many of them tell us, even years later, that their time at the Dreams Park was one of the highlights of their lives."

Averaging 12 players and 4 coaches, each team is guaranteed at least eight games during their week at the park, weather permitting. Beginning on Sunday, teams play seven regular games before beginning the single-elimination tournament on Wednesday. The teams come from all over the country, with teams coming from as far as Hawaii and Alaska.

Presutti said that during the last 10 seasons, teams have come from 44 different states, in addition to Canada. Each player who comes to the Dreams Park is automatically inducted into the AYBHOF as well, and many players donate their home run balls to the AYBHOF.

Opening with a shortened season and 48 teams a week in 1996, the park has expanded several times, inviting 64 teams per week in 2002 and 80 teams each week since last year. Each season lasts 11 weeks and 880 teams pass through the arches each season to participate in what Presutti calls "the ultimate baseball experience."

While the tournaments and games are a significant part of that experience, players and their families spend time taking part in a variety of activities in the village and at the park. Most visit the Baseball Hall of Fame and shop for souvenirs on Main Street. Often when they aren't practicing, playing games or visiting the local attractions, they're still playing baseball.

"Some days you can see the hill (outside of the clubhouses) covered with kids," said Dreams Park director Stephanie Banks. And then there are the pins. A fun hobby for some, an obsession for others, collecting pins is one of the highlights for many kids at the Dreams Park. Each team is given a set number of pins at the start of the week. The pins, replete with colorful graphics and the team's logo, are traded among the kids, coaches, umpires and even the staff who work at the Dreams Park. As the week goes on, teams with better records and closer to winning the final tournament find their pins in great demand, Banks said.

Surprisingly, despite the occasional summer rains that pound the area, Presutti said weather isn't typically a problem.

"In 10 years, we've only lost two full days to weather conditions," Presutti said. "We may have to adjust our schedule slightly, but we are blessed with a tremendous field maintenance staff."

Although there has been criticism from the public in opposition to the latest proposed expansion, which would add four lighted fields among other things, and about the park in general, Presutti views the comments as a part of the review process, not as criticism.

"The Dreams Park has followed the lead of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and the other Cooperstown-area businesses and attractions bringing visitors to the area," he said. "This has led to significant job creation and growth, which can only help the community. He said the Dreams Park employees 23 year-round, full-time employees, 11 of which work out of an office in Cooperstown. During the season, the park employs more than 300 staff members from Otsego County, ranging in age from 14 to 80.

Presutti said that whatever the future holds for the Dreams Park, their mission will remain the same. "We'll continue to provide the highest-quality youth baseball experience in the world."