Daddy takes Charley to a Baltimore Black Sox game, cementing her dream of becoming a professional baseball pitcher.

Charley, Willie, and Henry play baseball together at Mosquito Park, the only field available to Black kids in town.

During practice, Charley switches to her left hand and discovers she can throw a curveball that bends sharply.

Cecil mocks Charley and Willie, then bets his quarter against Charley's prized Black Sox hat at the upcoming picnic game.

Charley's sister Gwen gives her a baseball mitt signed by L.G., a real Black female professional player.

A bank manager in the white part of town harasses Nana Kofi about his land and car during a tax payment visit.

White boys throw rocks at Charley and Nana after one of them bumps into Nana on the street.

Nana Kofi is diagnosed with pneumonia and confined to his bedroom as the church picnic approaches.

Charley speaks up at Mary Bethune's lecture about girls pursuing sports and earns a standing ovation from the crowd.

The kids secretly cross the bridge and play a baseball game at Hickory Park, the whites-only field.

Cecil announces at the start of the game that Willie has switched to his team, shocking and betraying Charley.

After failing to hit Charley's curveball, Cecil disputes Henry's legitimate diving catch as illegal and quits the game.

White boys at Hickory Park steal Charley's signed glove and demand a pitching duel to win it back.

Charley's family receives warning that white men plan to attack in retaliation and packs to flee north in Uncle Albert's car.

The Ku Klux Klan burns Willie's house, and Nana comforts a guilt-ridden Charley as the family escapes north.

Twelve-year-old Charley Cuffey, inspired by a trip to a Black Sox game with her father, dreams of becoming the first professional Black female pitcher. Her summer of baseball practice is disrupted when the bully Cecil challenges her to a high-stakes church picnic game, betting her prized hat. A journey to the white part of town with her grandfather exposes Charley to a racist bank manager, rock-throwing white boys, and a harrowing story of lynching. When Nana falls ill with pneumonia and Willie appears to betray her, Charley must lead her underdog Black Stars team at the restricted whites-only Hickory Park. A confrontation with white boys after the game triggers violent retaliation, and the family is forced to flee north while Daddy stays behind to protect their home.

The headline events driving Charley's journey from baseball dreams to forced escape.

Nana Kofi wakes Charley each morning with kisses and checks his packed suitcase, ready to sail back to Africa.

Momma pushes Charley to pursue feminine activities like playing the flute instead of sweating on a baseball field.

Willie tells Charley that his family cannot travel to see the St. Louis Stars play over Christmas.

Uncle Albert sings a song about Black freedom while Momma plays the flute at the Sunday family gathering.

Charley and Nana attend a UNIA meeting at Uncle Rinney's store, listening to speeches about Black freedom and Marcus Garvey's ships.

Charley and Nana stop to admire the pristine Hickory Park baseball field from outside the fence until police begin approaching.

Nana coughs into his white handkerchief at the end of their walk home, and it turns red with blood.

Charley visits her nephews Plum and Juju and persuades them to join her baseball team for the picnic game.

Willie proposes naming their baseball team the Black Stars, connecting it to the St. Louis Stars and Marcus Garvey's ship.

Daddy surprises the family by arriving home on the morning of the Fifth Sunday church picnic.

Henry dives at full speed and catches Cecil's fly ball with his bare hand, making a stunning game-saving out.

Willie apologizes after the game and reveals he joined Cecil's team only to shield Charley from being hit by pitches.

Willie gives Charley a handmade necklace featuring a seashell painted with a black star on a wildflower chain.

Charley's family gathers on the front porch to pray for safety before rushing into Uncle Albert's running car.

Daddy sprints from the house clutching Charley's prized signed glove and throws it into the fleeing car.

Charley's daily life is shaped by Nana's Africa-bound dreams, Momma's expectations of femininity, and the tight bonds of family and friendship. Important relationships deepen as Willie shares his disappointments and Uncle Albert, the only Black man in town with a car, represents the possibilities of determination against systemic racism. Nana's alarming health decline—coughing blood after their visit to Great Bridge—signals danger while Charley works to recruit nephews Plum and Juju to build her team. Willie's inspired naming of the Black Stars and Daddy's surprise return add warmth before the game's pivotal moments unfold. After the game, Willie reveals his true loyalty with a heartfelt apology and a handmade gift, but the family's fragile joy is shattered when Daddy must sprint from the house to throw the signed glove into an escaping car.

The supporting moments and relationships that shape Charley's world and lead to escape.

Charley secretly packs her own suitcase alongside Nana's, determined not to be separated from him if he sails to Africa.

Charley reads the poem 'I Sit and Sew' at Sunday dinner, sparking a family argument about exposing her to the realities of racism.

Cecil taunts Willie for playing with a girl, and Willie's offended denial that Charley is his girlfriend angers her.

Charley suffers a stress-induced asthma attack after Nana recounts the brutal lynching of a Black man in their town.

Charley writes a baseball instruction manual to teach her underskilled nephews the fundamentals of hitting and fielding.

Nana advises Charley before the big game that an army of sheep led by a lion can defeat any opponent.

Berry secretly volunteers to be the team's catcher despite her parents strictly forbidding her from playing rough sports.

Charley channels her fury at Willie's apparent betrayal into powerful pitching rather than lashing out at him directly.

Charley uses her secret left-handed curveball to strike Cecil out in the tense final innings of the picnic game.

Charley strikes out both white boys with her signature left-handed curveball, winning back her confiscated signed glove.

Charley's final pitch causes Paul to twist his ankle, and the boys call them racial slurs and threaten their father's retaliation.

Charley finds a letter in Nana's suitcase from his cousin Kofi, revealing Kofi survived the Civil War and moved north.

The family overhears that white men are coming for the boy first, triggering an emergency evacuation from their home.

Johnnie tells the family in the escape car that the white men came because the boys claimed Charley broke their friend's ankle on purpose.

Nana promises Charley that she will one day tell her own grandchildren stories of how she survived this night.

Charley's understanding of her world expands through a series of pivotal discoveries—learning about racial violence, her family's buried history, and the true depth of her own courage. Early revelations, from secretly packing her suitcase alongside Nana's to suffering an asthma attack after hearing about a nearby lynching, begin to crack her childhood innocence open. As she prepares her ragtag team for the big game, key decisions like writing a training manual and absorbing Nana's wisdom about lions and sheep arm her for the challenge ahead. During the game and its dangerous aftermath, Charley transforms anger into strength, uses her secret left-handed pitch to defeat both Cecil and the white boys, and faces the full consequences of her defiance. Discovering Nana's cousin's letter and fleeing the KKK's violence, Charley ultimately receives Nana's promise that her survival will itself become a story worth passing down.

The key decisions, discoveries, and emotional shifts that transform Charley from a dreaming girl into a resilient survivor.