What do you get when you mix two baseball buffs— April and Darren—with a minor league team and a major league adventure? A grand-slam summer! Twelve-year-old April O'Day's summer has gotten off to a flying start. As the new bat retriever for the Harpoons, her hometown's minor-league team, she's fetching bats and doling out great advice to players and coaches alike. In a word, she's becoming indispensable. But mysterious things are happening at Haney Field, which April and her best friend—and fellow baseball enthusiast—Darren Plummer are determined to uncover. As they quickly learn, this is no ordinary season. In fact, it's a whole new ballgame!

Fans of Dan Gutman's BASEBALL CARD ADVENTURES and Julianna Baggott's THE PRINCE OF FENWAY PARK are going to root for April and Darren as they dig into the secret at Haney Field. Mystery and history go together like peanuts and Cracker Jack in this engaging baseball story! Twelve-year-old April O'Day's summer has gotten off to a flying start. As the daughter of a former minor-leaguer, she really knows baseball. And when she wins the opportunity to be a bat retriever with her hometown's minor league team, she proves it, transforming her seven-day dream job into a summer-long adventure of runs, hits, errors . . . and a mystery to solve! Baseball-playing shadows are on the field, which only she, her friend Darren, and the team's owner, Mr. Haney, can see. And when April finds one of their shadow balls in the stands, the three are able to witness a 1940s Negro Leagues game. Who are these players—especially the one they call Flash, a lightning-fast base runner? And why are they at Haney Field? Can Marcus "Mayhem" Mayfield, a veteran of the Negro Leagues and the majors, help them solve this mystery? And as facts come into focus, will Mr. Haney try to keep an event from the 1960s hidden under the grandstands? Find out in this winning novel!