Physically and sexually abused by his father, then locked in a garden shed without food, Joel spends the night digging his way out through the hard dirt floor with only his hands and a sharp stick. As he reenters the house, he is confronted by the sight of his abuser shooting and killing his mother. After being threatened by his father, the traumatized boy flees the house and wanders in a daze. Crane Johnson, a wealthy twenty-nine year old bachelor, volunteers time coaching with a policeman friend in the policemen's baseball league for teenage boys. At the completion of one of the team's...