In this story, small-town baseball stars Daniel Brown (main character) and Colton Smiley challenge themselves by trying out for the Commonwealth Stallions, a prestigious travel baseball organization with four competitive teams. After learning that Colton made the Stallions Prime team (the best team in the organization), Daniel is anxious to find out his placement. That excitement quickly turns into disappointment when he finds out that he made the Stallions Elite team (the organization’s B team).
For the first time in his baseball career, Daniel is forced to deal with adversity. From switching positions to struggling with his hitting, he falls out of love with the game. On top of his struggles on the field, Daniel also finds himself in a pickle in his friendship with Colton. This culminates in a verbal spat between the two in the school lunchroom, an event that changes their relationship for the next several weeks. As the story progresses, Daniel becomes increasingly more successful each game with his new team. He finds his love for baseball again while developing a new friendship with his teammate, Nelson Meyers. The story builds up to a game between the Stallions Elite and the Stallions Prime in the semifinals of the Battle of the Bluegrass, the Kentucky State Championship. In this game, Daniel must channel his frustrations and failures to take on his former best friend in his most challenging game to date.