Its hard to say for sure which loss was worse, so completely interwoven as they were.

Obviously, the sudden death of Joshua Brooks as he rounded third was a blow that his baseball-loving brother, Luke, would never get over completely. Joshua and Luke lived for one thing: the game they loved. The game they always played together, almost as one person. And as their senior year rolled on, they were both on the brink of getting scholarships to keep playing the game, keep running the bases.

But Luke has barely begun to get on with his life when the other shoe drops: He learns that he has the same sudden-death heart condition his brother had. And that, his doctor tells him, means Lukes baseball days are over for good.

Adrift in a sea of grief and disorientation, Luke heads off to Evangel University. Its there, studying near the baseball teams practice one day, that he meets a coach whose providential words will redirect Lukes sense of calling:

You know, Luke, for those of us who love this game, its pain and glory, all wrapped up together. A few of us grow to resent it, because we cant find our place in it anymore. But others, well, we just keep searching until we do.

That inflection point will shape the course of Lukes life. And as the film jumps forward 20 years, we find Luke happily married to his childhood friend Jessica. And together theyre raising a high school baseball player named Josh (named after Lukes brother, of course).

Oh, and hes a dynamite baseball coach, too. Lukes acclaim as a baseball genius in his small Arkansas townwhere both he and Jess grew uphas started to leak out. Thats the kind of thing that happens when you win nine state championships.

And sure enough, one day a man comes calling. A man in a suita nice suit. A man named Michael Jamison with an offer Luke ultimately feels is Gods leading: To move to a 6A Texas school district thatll give Luke a chance to take his coaching to the next level.

He takes the offer and is, at first, thrilled about it. Its all starting to feel like happily ever after

until Luke says a prayer at home base one day and runs the bases in honor of his brother and of God before a game.

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Running the Bases - Plugged In