Want to see Cape Cod Baseball League game this summer? Here are tips before you go.

HARWICH — If you’re visiting the Cape, you might try checking out a Cape Cod Baseball League game for an evening of free family fun in one of 10 towns where the teams play.

At Monday night's game in Harwich between the Harwich Mariners and the Chatham Anglers, the first rule of thumb was evident.

Get to the game early.

When I arrived about 6:10 p.m. for the 6:30 game, the large parking lot adjacent to Whitehouse Field off Oak Street was nearly full, but it’s not a long walk to the field. All the league fields have free parking as well as free admission to the regular season games.

CCBL summer schedule Cape Cod Baseball League is all summer. Here is the full regular season schedule.

How do I know who the players are?

As you enter the field, you are met with the scent of hot dogs being cooked on the grill. At an entrance table, you can pick up a roster of the game’s teams that night and add a donation to the league if you like.

The roster is handy to check out the personal data as well as the game statistics about each player. It’s interesting to see these top college players’ hometowns and schools from across the country. The Mariners have players from several Boston schools to as far as Utah. The Anglers have several players from Texas schools and Washington State and many in between states.

A large souvenir stand near the entrance is filled with league and team T-shirts in all sizes from infants to adults, baseball hats, jackets and other clothing. These stands at every field are managed by volunteers, said Shana Grogan of Harwich Port, who was working in the booth. She also helped the two young people selling 50-50 raffles tickets that include prizes from local businesses, with half the proceeds going to the home team.

Is there food at the league games?

People were lined up at the concession stand, which had a full menu of hot sandwiches, clam chowder, snacks, beverages and candy. The league parks are alcohol- and smoke-free.

Before the game, two large bleachers for home and visiting fans and two smaller bleachers behind home plate were nearly filled as were two raised grassy areas along the first and third baselines where people line up their lawn chairs and blankets. All the fields have similar seating.

What can kids do at the games?

As the starting players were announced over the loudspeaker, young children were lining up to go onto the field and stand with some of the players during the playing of the national anthem. A.J. Lopez, 10, of Groton was excited to be with a player at second base. He had been attending the youth baseball clinic, which the players run. His grandfather, Bill Chase of Harwich, ran out to take his picture. Chase and his family were sitting on the grassy area. He said he attends the games regularly because likes the family atmosphere and the fact it’s free.

There was plenty of room for the kids to run around and chase foul balls into the woods whenever they came over the fence.

“Well-behaved, leashed dogs are also welcome,” Shawn McBride, the league director of broadcasting and communications, said in a phone call.

Can I sit behind home plate?

I was able to get a little more inside knowledge of the game when I sat down behind home plate next to David Gobron, who lives outside Worcester and just sold his house in Dennis Port. He was there with his brother-in-law Jim Person of West Dennis.

“I wouldn’t come to the Cape and not come to a game at least once,” Gobron said.

What about the wood bats the league uses?

He knows the game well because he umpires high school baseball and softball games. He said the Cape League uses NCAA umpires who work college games. He explained that the wood bats used in the league are harder to hit. The college players are used to composite metal bats, Gobron said.

But there were some exciting moments in the game with plenty of hits as well as great fielding, stolen bases, a double play and a two-run home run over the left field fence by Mariner shortstop Ryan Weingartner of Penn State that brought the score to 4-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Mariners went on to win 4-2.

Who goes to the games?

Jackie Bain of Harwich was carefully checking her team roster when players were announced as they came up to bat. She comes to every home game and was at this one with her daughter, who was visiting from New York City. Nearby, John Scheffler of Harwich said he was one of the many local hosts for players for the second year. He played in the league once himself. He is hosting two Mariner pitchers, Haiden Leffew and Blake Morningstar, both from Wake Forest University.

Several men sitting in a roped off area next to us checking their notebooks and phones were scouts looking for prospects, the fans told me. They were curious why scouts were here so early in the season, thinking they might be looking at some special prospect. Known as a proving ground, the Cape league has produced more than 1,000 players who have gone on to the major leagues.

The league is even a proving ground for broadcasters at the games who have gone on to jobs at places like ESPN, McBride said.

“You’re hearing future voices of the game.”

What are the teams in the league?

The Cape Cod Baseball League is in its 101st year. The other league teams are the Bourne Braves, Brewster Whitecaps, Cotuit Kettleers, Falmouth Commodores, Hyannis Harbor Hawks, Orleans Firebirds, Wareham Gatemen and Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox.

Games can be found almost every evening through July. Check capecodbaseball.org for the full schedule or www.capecodtimes.com for some enjoyable evenings watching some of the best college players in the country. But if you can’t get to a game, for the first time this year, all games are being streamed at capeleaguetv.com.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Never been to a Cape Cod Baseball League game? Here's what to know.