A budding Vineyard tradition resumes next week when two teams from the Cape Cod Baseball League — the Falmouth Commodores and Wareham Gatemen — play in the second annual John and Dorothy Connors Memorial Cup. The game is at 1 p.m. on Thursday at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School baseball diamond.

When these same two teams played their first game here last summer, there was some speculation the Island might get its own Cape League team. Attendance was over 2,000 — higher than most games played on the Cape — and the high school diamond proved to be the perfect venue for both players and fans.

But since then the idea of a Vineyard team has largely faded.

Gary Simmons, organizer of next week’s game and the high school baseball coach, said the logistics of traveling to the Vineyard was a deterrent to the league. And while he did not entirely rule out the possibility of a Vineyard team, he said it was unlikely.

But he said the Falmouth Commodores and Wareham Gatemen have expressed a willingness to play one game here for several years to come, and the John and Dorothy Connors Memorial Cup should have a long Vineyard run. “We hope to have at least one Cape League game here every summer for a long time . . . we want this to become an annual tradition,” Mr. Simmons said.

The Cape Cod Baseball League is one of the top amateur leagues in the country, and features many college baseball stars. Many future major league baseball players started there during their college years, including Kevin Youkilis, Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Lowell and Mo Vaughn.

During the 2008 season there were 205 Cape League alumni playing in the majors.

The Falmouth Commodores will be the home team on Thursday. Players to watch out for include three pitchers for Wareham who played for the Texas Longhorns in the NCAA College World Series: Brandon Workman, Cole Greene and Taylor Jungmann. The Gatemen also have a catcher from Harvard, three players from the University of Connecticut and a pitcher from Hawaii.

The Commodores have a number of players from southern universities, including Georgia Tech, Clemson, Southern Mississippi, Georgia and Auburn.

Red Sox legend Bill Lee — also known as the Spaceman — will throw the first pitch.

Mr. Lee was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame as the team’s record-holder for most games pitched by a left-hander. He is also well known for his humor, candor and outspoken views on political issues.

Mr. Simmons expects a high turnout for the game.

“We had 2,300 last year, but we want to build on that, and I think this year we will. We did a better job this year marketing the game . . . there were more people involved, we put the word out to more media outlets, we put out promotional materials. We will be plugging the game at the Fourth of July parade and the street fair in Tisbury. We are getting the word out to everyone,” he said, adding:

“We have some of the top baseball players in the country coming over . . . how can you beat that?”