Established in 1885, the Cape Cod Baseball League is a prestigious organization that showcases the best college ballplayers every summer. The players receive no money for participating in the 44-game schedule and are housed by local families on the Cape in Massachusetts for the 10-week sessions. The Cape League, though little known outside baseball circles, is a training ground for some of the gameís best professional talent, including more than 100 current major leaguers. Hall of Famers like Carlton Fisk and Thurman Munson and all-stars such as Mo Vaughn, Frank Thomas, Jeff Bagwell and Nomar Garciaparra all played on the Cape Cod circuit.

It was this unique summer league that inspired producer Sam Weisman to begin developing "Summer Catch" four years ago. Night after peaceful summer night, Weisman, who lives in Chatham, found himself drawn back to Veterans Field, home of the Chatham Aís. "I love the beauty of sitting out and watching a game on a summer evening, with the kids running around and the crack of the wooden bats," Weisman enthuses. "Thereís nothing like it. Iíve always felt it was a very pure kind of summer activity, where these players come down and test what they can do. Itís a really intense experience."

Next, Weisman and company set out to find the perfect director ‚ and found him in Mike Tollin, the producer of "Varsity Blues" and an award-winning documentary filmmaker. "I met Mike about three years ago when I was working on ëVarsity Blues,í" recalls executive producer Herbert W. Gains. "Heís the biggest baseball fan Iíve ever met and he knows more about baseball than anybody I know."

"Our movie is about baseball at its purest," says Tollin, who received an Oscar nomination and a Peabody Award for his documentary "Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream." "It will hopefully remind people how and why they fell in love with the game. Through the years Iíve made a number of films with baseball backdrops, and Iíve gotten to know numerous Hall of Famers. Whether itís Aaron or Mays, Seaver or Koufax, the great ones all manage to retain their passion for the game. ëSummer Catchí is about young players having that passion tested and facing the biggest challenges of their lives."

Though the story is set in New England, the spring weather in Cape Cod was too cold and uncertain to consider filming there. The filmmakers needed to find a location in which they could re-create the idyllic, all-American summer vacation town in which this intense, make-or-break summer takes place. Their search for a more feasible location led them to the warmer climate of Southport, North Carolina, a small seaport town with a strong New England flavor. The actors certainly didnít protest. "We spent the entire spring on the beach in beautiful North Carolina," Lillard says with a grin. "Days off, we played golf. It was the perfect job."

Once the filmmakers selected Southport as their location, they moved on to the next challenge: finding a ballpark. With all of the local fields being used for baseball season, the filmmakers needed a ballpark over which they had complete control for the four weeks they would be shooting the game sequences. The only available park in Southport was a derelict field, built in the 1950s by Little League volunteers, which had been abandoned and sat unused for over 20 years.

Led by production designer John Kretschmer, the "Summer Catch" production team designed and constructed a brand-new ballpark on the site of the abandoned field. Kretschmer based his design on hours and hours of videotape shot by Tollin, who had spent the previous summer in Cape Cod filming games on ball fields in little towns such as Chatham, Brewster, Harwich and Orleans. These tapes became a bible for the production designer. "We were fortunate to build the field from scratch, and to shoot during spring and summer," said Kretschmer of the fabricated Veterans Field. "I believe that we accurately reproduced, and maybe even perfected the intimacy that is Cape League baseball."

The "Summer Catch" field conformed to the dimensions of the real Veterans Field in Chatham, and even reproduced the picnic-like feel of Cape League games. After eight weeks of preparation, the ball field was ready for filming ‚ complete with lights for night games, new grass, a press box and concession stand.

Needless to say, even the detail-perfect background of the movie wouldnít fly without the right cast. A natural athlete, Freddie Prinze Jr. was the perfect choice to play pitcher Ryan Dunne. "I wanted to make a baseball movie for a long time," Prinze enthuses. "I grew up watching the Albuquerque Dukes and can name just about everybody who went on to become a major leaguer. So when I got the call, it was an easy decision. Plus, Mike said, ëWe wanted Ryan to be a southpaw.í Iím left handed, so Iíd say it worked out pretty well."

"Freddie was a boxer when he was younger and played a lot of baseball," Tollin says. "That, together with the fact that heís a lefty, gave us a real advantage. I donít know that thereís ever been a baseball movie that focused on a pitcher where the star is a lefty."

Prinze was thrilled at the opportunity to delve into the classic mystique of the pitcher. "Pitchers are a rare breed," Prinze observes. "They have the most stressful job on the field, but when theyíre perfect, theyíre viewed as God-like."

"For a pitcher, standing 60 feet away from a guy with a club and knowing that he canít touch you is a very powerful feeling," adds Tollin.

Prinze faced two challenges ‚ to inhabit the role of Ryan Dunne and to become a real pitcher. "Itís not just about how you throw the ball," says Tollin of the nuances that define a real player from a poseur. "Itís how you wear the uniform. Itís how you walk onto the mound, feel the rosin bag, what you do between pitches, how you look in for the sign and shake off the catcher. Freddie worked really hard to make it look authentic."

Prinze worked with three consulting coaches, Mark Ellis, Bill Landrum, and Bill Hughes, and he spent a lot of time with baseball players hired to play the roles of his teammates. Adding to the filmís authenticity are the cameo appearances by baseball legends Curt Gowdy, Hank Aaron and Dick Allen.

When it comes to working with Jessica Biel, an actress best known for her role on the television series "7th Heaven," the filmmakers and cast agree: sheís amazing. "Forget the fact that sheís drop dead gorgeous," says Prinze. "Jessicaís an actress who always comes prepared and constantly strives to learn more."

"The role of Tenley called for someone who is sophisticated, worldly, wise and poised beyond her years," Tollin says. "Sheís also independent and strong-minded enough to chase after Ryan, who is reluctant and distracted. When we brought Jessica in to meet with Freddie, she walked right up to him and grabbed him by the lapels, like, ëThis guy is mine.í She won the role by how comfortable and self-assured she was."

"I loved working with Mike," says Biel. "Heís very generous and kind. His enthusiasm is contagious. Heís the backbone of everything." Of her character, Biel observes: "Tenley is smart, fun and aggressive, except where her father is concerned. Sheís just graduated from Vassar and she wants to go on to school to become an architect. But her father is pushing her to go to work in San Francisco with her uncle. Mike helped me work through her feelings of frustration and confusion with both Ryan and her father."

Casting the role of Billy Brubaker, the teamís happy-go-lucky catcher, was more of a challenge. "In our early auditions," recalls Tollin, "Matthew Lillard came in and totally inhabited the role of Brubaker. He just nailed him. But in my mind, a catcher is a little bit shorter and stockier. I never thought of Matthewís tall, lanky frame as fitting a typical catcherís body type."

So Lillard took matters into his own hands. "Over the next month," Tollin reveals, "Matthew sent me a series of three or four funny telegrams, including one that read ëGOD SEES BRUBAKER TALL.í And I soon came to agree."

"The catcher is really the general on the field," Lillard notes. "And the relationship between a pitcher and catcher is an interesting one. The catcher is there to support the pitcher, to back him up on and off the field. But in this movie, Brubaker chokes and itís Ryan who comes to his rescue. This is my third movie with Freddie and weíve developed a very similar relationship."

Indeed, Prinze and Lillardís experience working together on the films "Sheís All That" and "Wing Commander" assured Tollin that they were an excellent onscreen duo. "Freddie and Matthew have great timing and comfort with each other," Tollin says. "I knew theyíd bring even more to their roles than was already on the page."

Wilmer Valderrama, who plays Fez on TVís "That ë70s Show," makes his big-screen debut as Mickey "Domo" Dominguez, the Chatham Aís second baseman. "I love Wilmerís innocent charm," says Tollin. "It really comes through in his portrayal of Domo."

"Heís a very innocent and religious type of a character," Valderrama says of Domo. "HeísÖwell, heís a virgin. I have some very funny scenes with my teammates and with my host mom."

It was crucial to Tollin that he cast the perfect actor to portray legendary Aís coach John Schiffner, and Tollin was thrilled when Brian Dennehy accepted the role. "If anyone can bring Coach Schiffner, who is the real life coach of the Chatham Aís, to the screen, Brian can," Tollin attests. "He is tough and authoritative, but has a genuine compassion for his players."

Actor Brian Dennehy wears number 15 on his jersey, and thatís not arbitrary ‚ thatís real-life Aís coach John "Schiff" Schiffnerís number. "They offered me a part I hadnít played before," says Dennehy. "Itís a well-written script, which is rare these days, and I like the character. John Schiffner is a good guy, a coach who loves the game and loves working with young people. My biggest challenge was being surrounded by all those twenty-five-year-old super athletes pumping huge levels of testosterone, but it was a lot of fun."

To keep the film as true as possible to the Cape League, the "Summer Catch" team used wooden bats, just like the Chatham Aís do, instead of the college-approved aluminum bats. And to be sure that the uniforms were authentic, a deal was made with the League so that all of the players in the movie wear not replicas, but the real uniforms of the Cape League. They also sent shirts, team jackets, baseballs, memorabilia, yearbooks, patches and concession supplies for movie props.

Meanwhile, the filmmakers quizzed locals to perfect the details. As a result, the press box in the movie is named after Charlie B. Thoms, in honor of the Chatham Aís general manager, to thank him for his help. The ballfield is called Veterans Field, just like the one on the Cape. And the Cape Leagueís website and logo are featured in various scenes, along with the Cape Cod Times and a banner for local radio station WQRC-FM.

"The League was totally supportive of the project from the very beginning," says Tollin. "Weíve worked very hard to make something they will be proud of. A lot of the pleasure in making this movie comes from raising the profile of the Cape League and introducing it to baseball fans from all over. The same way that the movie ëBull Durhamí sparked a renaissance in minor league baseball, I think ëSummer Catchí will introduce people to the Cape Cod League."

Producer Sam Weisman acted as a liaison between the filmmakers and the Cape Cod League. "Sam is always looking for ways to help financially or with fund-raising," says Chatham Aís treasurer Peter Troy. "Heís orchestrated matters so that the movie would be of great benefit to the Cape League and the Chatham Aís in particular."

The filmmakersí commitment to accuracy also extended to the casting of the baseball players. "My first task was to find a team," says Mark Ellis, who worked as the baseball coordinator for the film. "We spent two weeks recruiting players from all over the country. We put out a two-state advisory and ended up auditioning 300 kids. A lot of the recruits played the minor leagues and were close to making the big leagues. Some of them are still playing semi-pro ball. We interviewed them first and then took them out onto the field and held a baseball camp for three days. At the end of those three days, we had selected 35 top players to complete the team. Seven of the 35 were actors."

Once Ellis drafted his team, he put his "players" through a spring training camp of sorts: a four-week baseball camp for actors and players to develop into a team. "They practiced together, they dressed together and they ate together," Ellis explains. "Most of the players in the movie come from a baseball background and the training is designed to help them ease into life in front of a camera. A lot of these guys are comfortable playing baseball, but when there are three cameras on them and people yelling ërollingí and ëaction,í they have no idea what to do. Acting as a team makes them comfortable with their environment. I told them to play baseball and not to worry about the rest.

"The actors, on the other hand," Ellis continues, "worked out in L.A. for a week or two so that when they came to us, they were ready. We incorporated them immediately into the team, threw them right to the wolves. Every morning we had practice. Weíd stretch, run, go through drills. Then weíd go through a regular baseball practice and finally, weíd work on the choreographed plays."

Corey Pearson, who plays Ryan Dunneís pitching rival Eric Van Leemer, has played baseball competitively, but even he had a lot to learn. "I played ball in college, but I wasnít a pitcher. Iíve learned a new game along with these guys, and the actors really picked it up, too. It was fun to watch. I was sort of a big hit on the playground when we started training in L.A., but not once we started shooting. We were all battered and bruised, but we came a long way."

Valderrama agrees with Pearsonís ëbattered and bruisedí assessment. "The physical aspect of the role was the most challenging part of shooting this film," he says. "I work on ëThat ë70s Show,í where I donít have to run. But I grew up in Venezuela, which is a very baseball-influenced country. I was a pitcher there when I was a kid, but I quit the game when I got hit with the ball. So now here I am, an actor, coming in and trying to take up this sport thatís so hard to learn, with people who are great at it and have been doing it since they were kids. I got hit with the ball in my face like three times. I had a black eye for a week and I then had my jaw swollen up for another few weeks. I mean, it was a pain. But it was fun."

And then thereís the movie magic that Tollin and the crew used to make all the elements come together seamlessly. "There are quite a few scripted plays that needed to be executed," Tollin explains. "For instance, Freddieís character throws a wild pitch and two runs score. Thereís an inside the park home run. So, prior to shooting, the team practiced these specific plays over and over so that when it was time to shoot, they knew exactly where the ball was going and how to respond."

An unconventional sports movie in the tradition of "Bull Durham," "Summer Catch" is an irreverent, inside look at amateur league baseball and the people whose lives are touched by the sport. "Ultimately, this film is not about who wins and who loses," Tollin says. "Itís about a pivotal time in the lives of these kids during the most fun, and potentially life-changing, summer of their lives."