For a venue named The Ballpark, two decades without a baseball team calling it home is a long, dismal stretch of time. Where once the sweet crack of bats, the solid thump of balls into gloves and the cheers of “batter, batter, batter!” rose to the southern Maine skies, year after year passed unmarked and unheralded without a game.

Old Orchard Beach was chosen by Bangor attorney Jordan Kobritz for his short-lived Triple-A Maine Guides from 1984 to 1986. Then a Triple-A Phillies squad played there in 1987-88 before moving to Scranton.

Converted into a concert venue, the field fell into disrepair after it was essentially abandoned in 1995, with 12-foot trees growing on the infield. It was only recently restored with $375,000 in town and private funding and has seen a variety of tournaments and local games.

Now, Old Orchard can celebrate the return of the boys of summer for two solid months next year. And in this case, the term is a bit more descriptive than it usually is.

The team arriving in June 2011 to call The Ballpark home is the Lowell All-Americans, part of the New England Collegiate Baseball League, a 12-team group of college players striving to keep their skills sharp and their talents on display for Major League scouts after their schools’ season ends.

The team will play 21 home games in June and July next year and, if it gets to the playoffs, as many as four post-season ones.

The league, which still uses wooden bats, also includes the Sanford Mainers, who play at Goodall Field.

The All-Americans have a one-year commitment to Old Orchard that could be extended indefinitely.

Sanford enjoys its Mainers, and there’s no reason OOB can’t do the same with its All-Americans.

The Ballpark is a ballpark again.