Is Israel ready to play ball?

Bostonian Larry Baras thought so, certain that if he built it, they would come. He not only built it, he let Brett Rapkin and Erik Kesten film the associated trials and tribulations. The result is the high-octane Holy Land Hardball, showing this Sunday evening at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center.

Holy Land Hardball documents the formation of Israel’s first professional baseball league, from tryouts through the first game in June 2007.

It features Kevin Youkilis, one of the few Jewish major league players, and other figures well-known to Red Sox Nation, like Dan Duquette, former Sox general manager and director of baseball operations for the Israel Baseball League.

It shows the players, not all of whom are Jewish, nor even Israeli — tryouts attracted players from Australia, Japan and Haiti.

The film is infectious and upbeat, despite the apparently endless challenges. “Other than players, facilities, coaches and fans, we’ve got everything (we need),” one of the organizers declares, then laughs. Mr. Baras himself, whose background is in the bakery industry, at one point instructs the camera: “Next time I have an idea, just please tell me not to do it.”

The Boston Jewish Film Festival’s Nysselle Clark will introduce the film, which screens Sunday, August 9, 7:30 p.m. at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center on Centre street in Vineyard Haven. Admission is $10.