OLD ORCHARD BEACH — Don’t consign Dune Doggy to the dog pound, just yet.

And don’t put your Raging Tide shirts and hats away either.

Old Orchard Beach will have a baseball team next year ”“ and possibly beyond ”“ after all.

The OOB town council voted 4-1, Tuesday, to approve a two-year contract ”“ plus an option for a third ”“ with the Futures Collegiate Baseball League to operate a team at The Ballpark.

“The vote went as I thought it would,” said John Gallo, who with his wife Pam, will be a primary investor in the team. “I didn’t expect anything different. I think four out of five is a very positive vote. All I can say is that we’ll just have to prove to them we can do it right.”

The team will replace the one that operated in the New England Collegiate Baseball League, then pulled up stakes after the season ended.

Like the one before it, the new team will be known as the Raging Tide, and will be one of eight Futures League members spread across New England.

The wooden bat Futures League, whose 54-game schedule (27 home, 27 away) runs from June to August, started play last season with four teams, Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., Torrington, Conn., Seacoast (Rochester, N.H.), and the league champion Nashua (N.H.) Silver Knights.

During the off-season, the league has added three teams in Massachusetts, Pittsfield, Brockton, and Wachusett (Leominster), as well as the team.

When the opportunity to put a team in the refurbished Ballpark arose, the Futures League jumped at it.

“It’s a beautiful ballpark,” said Chris Hall, the league’s commissioner. And a great community.”

Like teams in the NECBL, including the Sanford Mainers, Futures League teams are made up of collegiate ballplayers who are looking to improve their skills during the summer.

Many of them have designs on a pro career, as did former Sanford hurler Jason Motte, who helped the St. Louis Cardinals to the 2011 World Series title.

According to Futures League rules, at least half of each team’s roster must be made up of players from New England, either by birth or by schooling.

Last year, 23 of the 27 NECBL’s Raging Tide players fit this requirement.

Hall said the Futures League clubs draw from the same player pool as does the NECBL.

“Divisions I, II, and III,” said Hall. “There’s no difference. We want to give a New England kid a chance to prove they can play with kids from outside.”

The new Raging Tide operation hopes to avoid the mistakes made by the previous club, which was owned by the family of the late Harry Ayotte, with son Doug Ayotte serving as General Manager.

The Tide finished the 2011 campaign with a 9-33 mark, worst in the NECBL, while averaging crowds of 455 in the 5,000 stadium.

A new, full time general manager, who has yet to be hired, will be responsible for putting together a competitive baseball operation, as well as marketing the club to prospective fans and sponsors in OOB, Saco, Biddeford, Scarborough, and beyond.

“The team that was here last year made some mistakes,” said Gallo, who with his wife bought Tide season tickets after moving to OOB from suburban Baltimore. “They didn’t promote the team well outside the town of Old Orchard Beach. This is more than Old Orchard Beach. This a convenient place for people to come for entertainment.”

Other local investors are expected to join the Gallo group.

As well, the Gallos expect to find a role for OOB resident Tom Lachance, who spearheaded the volunteer effort to resurrect The Ballpark, which had fallen into disrepair after being vacant for nearly two decades.

It was Lachance, who recently stepped down as the baseball coach at Old Orchard Beach High School, who steered the Gallos toward the Futures League.

“Without Tom,” said Pam Gallo, “there wouldn’t be baseball in Old Orchard Beach.”

Although the town council gave its approval by a wide margin, the proposed deal was the subject of spirited discussion.

Among other items, the agreement calls for the team to pay a $15,000 per season rental fee, and will chip in $5,000 per year for stadium improvements.

The team will run the concession stands and keep any game-day profits as well as income from outfield signage.

“I just don’t see the numbers working,” said Council Chair Bob Quinn, who cast the lone dissenting vote, “without getting a percentage of those concession stand sales. To contract for this type of thing for two years is doubly worse, because it’s not going to be anything but baseball from the 15th of April to the 15th of August. And what’s left for other activities is in the waning time of the year. That’s the reason why I don’t support it with the numbers the way they are.”

Council member Robin Dayton, who voted with the majority, expressed a different view.

“Everybody keeps talking about the short term,” she said. “But this is like a five or 10 year, long term vision. And we’re still developing the vision. Right now, it’s about baseball. And I hope it remains about baseball. We’ve invested a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to bring this to where we are. This is a new day. We’re on track.”

— Contact Dan Hickling at 282-1535 or follow on Twitter @DanHickling.