Six Innings - Hardcover

Two teams, six innings, one game.

A lively cast of characters--baseball-loving boys between the ages of eleven to thirteen--are playing the biggest game of their lives. With acrobatic catches, clutch hits, dramatic whiffs, and costly errors, this game is full of action. But as the book unfolds, pitch by pitch, a deeper story emerges, with far more at stake. And this baseball diamond becomes the ultimate testing ground of remarkable friendship between two boys, Sam and Mike, who strive together to find a way to both come out winners.

This is for the championship.

This is for life.

James Preller is the author of the popular Jigsaw Jones mystery series, which has sold over 10 million copies since 1998. Six Innings is his first stand-alone novel, and it grew out of his love for baseball and his experiences in Little League as a player, father, and coach.

"Those first baseball experiences are vivid times, burned into our memories," Preller says. "It's when we first learned to love the game. A time when we knew, somehow, the game loved us back."

James Preller lives in Delmar, New York. In addition to writing full-time, he coaches Little League and plays in a men's hardball league.

Visit him on the Web at www.jamespreller.com.

Dylan feels the ball in his glove, grips it across the seam, reaches back for something extra, and blows Angel away with a high fast-ball. Strike three! Yes!

Sam Reiser leans back and savors the moment. He is now completely caught up in the game. Everything else falls away, all life's distractions, like a skin that's been shed. He doesn't worry about his hair, or homework, or doctors. He isn't concerned about tomorrow. That's what baseball gives him, the urgency of the here and now.