So ridiculous it has to be true, a dysfunctional team of teenage boys bumbles its way to the 1989 State Baseball Championship.  The tale of this team from rural South Dakota has never been told...until now!  Based on actual events, the story falls somewhere between THE BAD NEWS BEARS and BULL DURHAM.

SYNOPSIS:

Based on my younger brother's and my teenage baseball "careers." Now a novel that can be found here:

www.thegmann.com

Warning: The story includes "locker room talk" out of the mouths of teenage boys that may be too raunchy for some tender ears.

TEENER BASEBALL is a behind the scenes story of the South Dakota summer baseball league for fourteen to sixteen-year-old boys. Reedville, South Dakota has a rich history of state championship baseball teams, but after losing the championship the previous year, there are questions about the aging coach and the baseball program. Reedville is a small, rural farming community, population, 1300, and the tale of the 1989 championship run of this team has never been told...until now.

Gary Hillmann is the all-American boy and one of the Reedville stars on the team. Gary has a romantic interest for the summer when the coach's niece, Annie Willis, comes to work in Reedville. Dave Brown is Gary's best friend and the catcher on the team. Dave hears the rumor that Gary is leaving the small community of Reedville for an opportunity at a prep school and future elite college scholarships. Gary asks Dave to keep the prep school rumor quiet.

The Reedville Cardinals get a scare when their head coach, Irv Willis, battles his diabetes and has to miss time leaving the young assistant coach, Coach Shoemaker, a.k.a. Coach Shoe in charge. Coach Shoe clashes with Gary and rides the other players expecting only the best. This pressure grates on the players. Coach Willis returns to the team with another young star player, Chuck Fisher. Chuck has returned to Reedville with his newly remarried mother. Chuck is a "Natural" on the baseball field, but Chuck has a dark, mischievous side. Chuck showboats and lollygags on the field drawing the ire of both Gary and Coach Shoe.

Coach Shoe has his own foray into celebrity as he moonlights playing baseball for the Reedville amateur team. His success leads to an opportunity to play minor league baseball, and leaves the Teeners one coach short for the tournament season. Coach Shoe is replaced by his brother Coach Sammy, an older, rough-around-the-edges version of Coach Shoe.

Annie finds out that Gary is leaving Reedville for a prep school education and is deeply hurt after she admits that she was considering staying with her Aunt and Uncle in Reedville.

Chuck's step-father prevents him from playing in the conference tournament and the Cardinal's lose pathetically and have no momentum going into the Regional Tournament play. Chuck's mother steps in and returns Chuck to the team after discovering that baseball season was not over and her husband had been misinformed. Chuck's return sparks the team to the Teener State Tournament, but again Chuck's dark side rears its ugly head. Chuck is arrested for public drunkenness after the regional game. Coach Willis allows the team to police itself and calls for a team vote on whether to keep Chuck on the team. Gary speaks out against Chuck, but is overridden by the majority vote.

Gary is comforted by Annie after the team vote, and they set aside their differences. That night, Coach Willis dies in his sleep. Annie is crushed and finds comfort from Gary. The team is left with only Coach Sammy to guide them to the State Tourney. The bus trip to the tournament takes an unusual detour and picks up Coach Shoe, who has cut short his foray into professional baseball to rejoin his team.

The team breezes through the first game of the single elimination state championship tournament, but falls behind in the semifinals. They are able to overcome the large deficit and move to the championship game thanks to Dave's timely hitting, after struggling all year.

The championship finds the Reedville Cardinals against the host team and Coach Shoe's old home town. Coach Shoe gives an inspirational speech displaying his minor league contract as a prop. Once again Reedville gets behind by several runs as the opponent's pitcher is dominant. Chuck takes on a defeatist attitude and almost comes to blows with Gary in the dugout. However, Dave's timely hitting comes through again. Dave hits a line drive off the opponent's star pitcher's knee. The pitcher is not the same and Reedville mounts a furious comeback and run away victory in the championship game.

TEENER BASEBALL