Photo courtesy of Troy Kepler Members of the Marshall Blaze youth baseball team poses for a photo. The team will play in the Youth Baseball Hall of Fame Invitational Tournament from August 26-31 in Cooperstown, New York and is the first Marshall area team to participate in the event.

MARSHALL — Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout and Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper are two of baseball’s bright young stars on track to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, located in Cooperstown, New York.

But Trout and Harper are already in a different Cooperstown hall — the American Youth Baseball Hall of Fame.

The AYBHOF hosts the Youth Baseball Hall of Fame Invitational Tournament annually, with over 100 teams participating in weekly national tournaments from June through August.

The Marshall Blaze Baseball Club will play in one of those tournaments, from August 26-31. The team is guaranteed a minimum of seven games, and players will also compete in various skills competitions.

There are a number of Minnesota teams in these tournaments every year, which is how team organizer and coach Troy Kepler heard abut the tournament and where he got the idea to start the Blaze.

“The Marshall Blaze began as an idea in July 2016. After to talking to family and friends from the Twin Cities that had coached or played in the Cooperstown tournaments, I was sold,” he said. “So, I contacted families with players in the MAYBA traveling 10U traveling program with an extensive email laying out the idea. I wanted to be certain that everyone knew that this was not designed to be an all-star team but a team of 12 players and families that loved the game of baseball and wanted an experience of a lifetime.”

This is the first time a Marshall area team will compete in this event, but future Marshall teams will be grandfathered in and won’t have to re-apply.

The final Blaze roster consists of 10 players from Marshall, along with one player from Granite Falls and one from Tyler. The members of the Blaze are Josh Kraft, Peyton Hoflock, Andrew Cowden, Drew Parsons, AJ Haas, Alex Heil, Collin Klenken, Drew Almich, Carter Kepler, Cooper Mensink, Brody Wixon and Preston Grosklags.

The week will culminate with the team’s induction into the AYBHOF. According to the AYBHOF website, all tournament participants are inducted into the hall regardless of outcome.

“All of our players will receive a Cooperstown Dreams Park home and away jersey, socks, hat, and AYBHOF ring,” Kepler said. “Our team will have a photo session and receive personalized Cooperstown Dreams Park baseball cards. In addition to the baseball tournament, the team will be meeting and trading pins with players from across the country and visiting the National Baseball Hall of Fame.”

For Kepler, it’s been a long process to turn a dream into a reality.

“It has been a whirlwind two years. but worth every second that has gone into it,” Kepler said. “There some rather significant costs involved in playing in the tournament, but the community has been fantastic in their support of our dream. Since we are not affiliated with MAYBA or any other organization we have built this dream from the ground up.”