The Boy Who Saved Baseball

Tom Gallagher is in a tight spot. The fate of the Dillontown team rests on the outcome of one baseball game, winner take all. If Tom's team loses, they lose their field too. But how can they possibly win? Just when everything seems hopeless, a mysterious boy named Cruz de la Cruz rides into town and claims to know the secret of hitting. Not to mention the secrets of Dante Del Gato, Dillontown's greatest hitter ever. Since he walked away from the game years ago, Del Gato hasn't spoken a word to anyone. But now he might be Tom's only hope for saving his hometown. From the award-winning author of Over the Walland Choosing Up Sidescomes this imaginative tale of one boy's struggle to preserve the spirit of the game he loves.

Baseball novelist John H. Ritter grew up playing "one-on-one" hardball with his brothers in the rural hills of eastern San Diego County along the Mexican border. Out on the field, he would invent stories about the game-stories that, years later, would end up becoming award-winning novels for young adults. John's debut, Choosing Up Sides, was the 1999 IRA Children's Book Award winner for Older Readers and an ALA Best Book for Young Adults. His next novel, Over the Wall, was named to the Texas Lone Star List and was selected by the New York Public Library as one of their "Books for the Teen Age." A former shortstop for the University of California, San Diego, John is now a full-time writer who still enjoys playing the game in an amateur league. He lives in San Diego with his wife, Cheryl. To learn more about John H. Ritter visit his Web site at www.JohnHRitter.com, or visit Cruz at his: www.cruz-on.com.