The Sunset League vs. the R.I. Amateur League.

Two of the oldest and considered by many to be the premier amateur baseball leagues in the state. But which one is the best?

Ask players affiliated with the Sunset League and they’ll tell you it’s their league.

R.I. Amateur League players beg to differ, saying that their league boasts the best talent in the area.

Now both sides will have a chance to prove it when the top players from the two leagues will battle it out in an All-Star Game, slated for Aug. 3 at Cranston Stadium.

“The coaches are excited about it and the kids are thrilled,” said R.I. Amateur League commissioner Scott Woodward. “There’s a lot of buzz around the league.”

From early May until late into the summer, close to 300 players combined can be found on baseball diamonds throughout the state playing for the two wooden-bat leagues.

Although all-star teams representing the various amateur leagues in the state got together for tournaments in the early 1980s and ’90s, that tourney has since fallen by the wayside. Steve Cirella, commissioner of the Sunset League based in Newport, says that he and Woodward came up with the idea for an all-star game during a recent discussion about ways to better showcase the talented players from both leagues, many of whom are former Rhode Island high school stars, standouts from the local college teams, as well as former professional players who still have a passion for the game.

“We wanted to put something together because we know there are a lot of kids from Division II and III out there playing,” said Cirella, who also coaches the Salve Regina baseball team. “Not everybody can play for the Newport Gulls [of the New England Collegiate Baseball League] or the Cape Cod League, but there are a lot of Rhode Islanders out there that deserve some mention. They are working hard to make themselves better and to make their colleges better for next season. And that’s a tribute to them because many of them have to work and make money, plus they have to go out there and play baseball. So we wanted to have something local that will promote some of the baseball players, along with giving the winning team a little bit of bragging rights. Hopefully it will become a tradition that will carry on.”

A former standout at Pilgrim, who went on to play for the 1987 CCRI team that finished third in the Junior College World Series and then Rhode Island College, Woodward played in both the Sunset League and the R.I. Amateur League. He remembers fondly the opportunities he had to play in the past all-star events and as the R.I. Amateur League’s new commissioner is looking forward to providing the same chance for today’s young players.

“It’s going to be some fantastic baseball,” said Woodward, who is also an assistant coach for the East Greenwich high school baseball team. “It’s one thing to play against a team that has two or three all-stars, but to be a pitcher going against an all-star lineup, that’ll be fun to watch. Hopefully a couple of scouts will swing by because there are quite a few college players playing with real talent.”

Within the next couple of weeks, representatives from both leagues will meet to select their respective all-star teams, who will be trying to become the first champion engraved on the all-star trophy that will be created for what the organizers hope to make an annual event.

Al Alvarez, longtime manager of the 2007 Sunset League champion Town Dock Mariners, will coach the Sunset League all-star team, Cirella said.

The R.I. Amateur League will be coached by the manager of this year’s league champion, with the coaches of the second- and third-place teams serving as assistants, said Woodward. With a few weeks left in the regular season, Brother’s Oven Pizza, managed by Gerry Marzilli, is currently in first, with Allie’s, coached by Skip Paine, and Harold Tillinghast’s Westcott Properties sitting in second and third place, respectively.

In addition to showcasing their top players and increasing their leagues’ visibility, Cirella and Woodward wanted the all-star game to mean something more, feeling it was important to include a charitable component. In the future, the winning team will be able to choose the charity that will receive the proceeds from the following year’s all-star game, Woodward said. The beneficiary of this year’s event will be the Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation.

Established in 2004 by the family of Gloria Gemma, a mother of 9 and grandmother of 25 who lost her battle with breast cancer, the foundation aims to increase awareness and generate funding for breast health programs, pledging on its Web site to dedicate “100 percent” of its net proceeds to local breast cancer organizations.

“Every single person you talk to is one degree of separation from [breast cancer],” Woodward said. “The Gemmas have done wonderful things with their cause, so why not do our part by helping?”

The Aug. 3 festivities at Cranston Stadium will kick off with a Home Run Derby at 5 p.m. The game will follow at 7 o’clock. Admission is $2.

cthorn@projo.com