Everything stops making sense for southpaw Travis Barkley when his parents die in a car crash and he is separated from his sister, Amanda. After years of being in the foster-care system, Travis receives a puzzling postcard from Amanda and heads to southern California to try to find her. His search is a dead-end until he meets Jesse and Ethan. With the help of his new friends, Travis continues to look for Amanda. Travis's love of baseball is rekindled when Ethan convinces him to pitch on his baseball team. His attention divided, Travis must decide between jeopardizing his chance at a future in baseball and connecting with his sister.
"Barwin is particularly good at depicting the sports scenes. His close attention to detail and use of first-person narrative allow the reader to experience the doubts and triumphs that are integral to any player's experience in a game situation. Barwin's understanding of the team dynamic, on and off the field, is also very believable...Travis is a likeable character who is trying to do the right thing."