A review by justread
One Shot at Forever: A Small Town, an Unlikely Coach, and a Magical Baseball Season by Chris Ballard

5.0

I read this book because my husband enjoyed it so much. We took two back-to-back road trips and, while he'd reluctantly take his driving shift, he much preferred to read. So I drove, and he laughed and groaned his way through this story of a 1970-71 high school baseball team. I don't even like baseball, but I LOVED this book. Chris Ballard is a Sports Illustrated writer and he has a wonderful way of telling the story of a small-town bunch of boys and their unconventional coach, weaving in backstory while building tension as the team advances to the state championship. In this era, there was no such thing as divisions or classes in sports based on the size of the school, so the team, coming from a school of less than 200 students, goes up against a team from a school of 5,200. But much more than the David vs. Goliath sports story, the author tells the story of the players, the coaches, and the community members in a compelling way that really makes the reader care about the individuals. Both my husband and I started our teaching careers in small towns where we coached volleyball, learning to navigate the complex politics of high school sports. This brought back memories for both of us. This story would make a fabulous movie!