Wildball
Logline
A college baseball player competes in an elite summer league but risks his future in the game by coming forward about his abusive coach.
Genre
Drama, Young Adult,Sports
Short Summary
Shane Monoghan, a top-ranked collegiate shortstop, arrives in seaside Nailer's Cove to compete in a prestigious summer league when he learns that his former coach Mike Calloway, the man responsible for developing him as a player and bullying him relentlessly, has died in a car wreck.
After leading his Cove League team to victory, Shane tells the truth about his abusive past and Calloway's true nature. He returns to Oregon for another year of college when a forest fire strikes. Shane debates suicide, thinking the flame is his fate for waiting too long to confess.
Setting
Cape Cod, Massachusetts and Oregon
Based on a True Story
No
Plot - Premise
Internal Journey/Rebirth
Plot - Other Elements
Coming of Age, Meaningful Message,Toxic Masculinity & Veterans Issues
Mature Audience Themes
Sexual Abuse
Main Character Details
Name: Shane Monoghan
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Role: Protagonist
Key Traits: Underdog, Complex, Empathetic, Lone Wolf, Naive, Secretive,Secretive,Lone Wolf,Clumsy,Insecure
Additional Character Details
Name: Noah Kinton
Age: 13
Gender: Male
Role: Sidekick
Key Traits: Aspiring, Engaging, Modest, Selfless,Modest,Selfless
Additional Character Details
Name: Mike Calloway
Age: 48
Gender: Male
Role: antagonist
Key Traits: Manipulative, Narcissistic, Power-hungry, Aggressive, Desperate,Narcisstic,Villainous
Additional Character Details
Name: Lexi Henson
Age: 22
Gender: Female
Role: Logical
Key Traits: Aggressive, Blunt, Confident, Educated, Funny
Development Pitch
Wildball is a necessary story for the currently underserved YA market. It'd make a good film for the kid who has outgrown the Sandlot, but isn't quite ready for HBO. Shane's journey of coming forward about his past trauma with his former coach tackles themes of abuse and survivor's guilt while also intertwining positive charges in the narrative with moments of mentorship and brotherhood. The story has the Norman Rockwell imagery of a summer baseball league, but if David Lynch lifted the brush now and then, to add in some devilish skies over the seaside town where the action takes place. Its proven its merit by earning coverage in the Boston Globe, air-time on NPR stations, and spots on school summer reading lists. Engles, a BU Film & TV grad, is currently working on the screenplay of his novel.
Supplemental Materials
