ROME, Ga. — It's only late February, but local high school teams are already limbering their arms and taking practice swings. Pretty soon, the big boys will take to the diamond for the 2013 season, as well.

In just a few more days, dozens of the players who fall in between those two levels of competition will begin climbing a ladder of success they hope will eventually lead to Turner Field in Atlanta. They won't, however, have to clear the top rung before getting the chance to don a Braves uniform.

The Rome Braves (Atlanta's Class A affiliate) have been playing in State Mutual Stadium on Veterans Memorial Highway just north of downtown since 2003. That first team won the conference title, and General Manager Michael Dunn recently told The Post the organization's challenge ever since has been to try and repeat as champs.

“That's been one of our small challenges ever since,” Dunn chuckled last week. “There was nothing else we could have accomplished that first year.”

No subsequent team has duplicated the feat—yet—but Dunn and his staff invite everyone to load up the entire family and have a ton of fun as they watch this year's squad take a swing at another title.

“We constantly strive to provide great customer service, a clean building, a great product on the field,” Dunn said. “The things that happen in State Mutual Stadium are really grandiose, it's a Major League production in a small setting.”

Dunn said the Rome branch of the Braves organization prides itself on all aspects of the game day experience, from the freshly prepared food in the concession stands, to the music selection between innings, to live-camera shots of on-the-field action on the centerfield scoreboard, to the trip across the parking lot before and after the game.

“We provide tram service and gold carts, taking people from their cars to the front gate with a smile,” Dunn said. “We continue to build on that service. We want you and your children to have a good time, and we want you to leave here happy.”

Dunn is happy about the unique situation he has in Rome, one of the few minor league clubs that is wholly owned by its Major League Baseball affiliate. He said the consistency such a partnership provides is part of the reason for Atlanta's 14 league titles since the early 1990s.

“There is no other Class A team that is producing Major League players at the rate we are,” Dunn said. “That's because the Braves player development system is so strong. This is a very conducive environment for making sure our players have everything they need to excel.”

Dunn, who has been with the Braves organization since 1991 and helped design State Mutual Stadium, said the attention to detail goes all the way down to the field—specifically, the outfield.

“This stadium is an exact replica of Turner Field, so when Jason Heyward is in right field in Atlanta he knows exactly how much distance he has to the warning track because he positions himself the same as he did when he was here in Rome when he was 19.”

Rome kicks off this season on Saturday, April 6 at 7 p.m. ET against Savannah. The evening's festivities are set to include a free giveaway to the first several hundred fans through the gates and a postgame fireworks show. Dunn said hopes to see a lot of faces from across the state line in his stadium seats this season.

“There is no better place to spend an evening with family and friends,” Dunn said. “It's clean, it's safe, it's easy to get in and out before and after the game, and the atmosphere is top-shelf. We can't control Mother Nature, but everything we can control is going to be spectacular.”