Thousands of miles away, in Los Gatos, a similar dream is taking shape at Rolling Hills Middle School.

A brand-new baseball field is almost complete, a field that has been put together by individuals who want to help the community and change the image of the Quito Little League.

The school grounds have been used by Quito for several years, accomodating youngsters from Campbell, Saratoga, Los Gatos and Monte Sereno.

But the league, for a variety of reasons, had not been very popular with the Campbell Union School District in the past.

"The league had gotten on the bad side of the school district," said Bill Albert, president of the Quito Little League. There had been problems with trash and with restrooms being damaged.

"Morale was down," said Albert.

When Albert became president, he set about trying to change that. Last year, at a school board meeting, assistant superintendent, Dale Thurston, talked about how the league was trying to change things.

Some weeks later, the district gave its permission to the league to build a new baseball field at Rolling Hills.

"We had pushed for a new field. But once we got the permission, I realized that we had only $25,000," said Albert.

He was nervous, so he picked up the phone and started calling for help. One of the people he called was Phil Roby.

Roby, who works in the construction industry, had helped out the Little League before when other fields were being built. He volunteered his help but also asked Albert to call Leo Maniglia, a Los Gatos resident who has two children playing in the league.

Maniglia owned a landscaping company until last year. By his own admission, he did very well during the dot-com boom years. "We worked on all the major high-tech campuses," said Maniglia, who sold his company last year.

Albert still remembers every word of that first phone conversation. Maniglia told him that Albert had caught him on a good day. "You give me $25,000 and I will cover the cost of everything else," Maniglia told Albert on the phone.

"It took me only a few seconds to make up my mind," said Maniglia. "I was doing it for the kids."

Maniglia says that he hankers for a time when kids could walk to school and then play ball and grab a hot dog.

"Mortgages are so high in the area where we live that both parents have to work to pay the bills and kids are looked after by nannies," he said. "I wanted to start something that will bring the family back together."

Maniglia made good on his commitment in a hurry.

Using his money and numerous contacts in the construction industry, he had 25 to 30 people working on the field every day starting in January.

In a matter of weeks, a vacant area of the school grounds overgrown with weeds had been transformed into a professional-looking baseball diamond.

"We used the same dirt that's used at SBC Park," said Maniglia, who has spent $50,000 of his own money to build the field that he and Albert both refer to proudly as "the best field in America."

Maniglia now plans to renovate the other baseball fields at Rolling Hills and repair the school's soccer field. "The school district will pay us $60,000 and we plan on raising another $150,000," said Maniglia.

"I am confident that some of the community leaders will support our cause. If I have to do it, I will do it, but I would be disappointed if everybody left me out to hang," he said.

But for now, Albert and Maniglia are content just seeing the new field being used by the players.

Albert said that with the building of the new field, all Quito Little League games will be played at one school. "This makes it much easier for the parents."

"This field has been built with the sweat of individuals like me and Bill. We want to show what a couple of individuals can do for local kids," said Maniglia.

The players are certainly excited.

Christopher Thomas, who plays in the league, said he likes the new field because "it's neat and cool."

"There's no trash. This is much better," he said.

Maniglia, Albert and Roby are no less proud.

"Every local city has its own league. We are just a wedge of all these cities," said Albert. "But the Quito League is moving up from being the armpit of the local leagues."

"This is a home run," said Roby.