Jake's phone rang at 5:30 am the next morning and he rolled over, groaning.

His phone ringing at that obscene hour only meant something was probably wrong. He pulled off his covers and sat up, rubbing his eyes, trying to rid them of sleep before he answered.

"Jake Wolff"

"Jake, we got a problem" It was Nick.

"I kind of assumed that, buddy when you're calling me at... not even 6 in the freaking morning. Wait, why are you even up? You're the one who likes your sleep." Jake laughed at his joke.

Nick didn't.

"Oh shoot," Jake thought. "Is this serious?"

"I'm up because of that problem," Nick said. Jake put his phone on speaker and started getting dressed.

"Alright," he said, taking a deep breath. "Give it to me straight"

"So remember the other day when I told you Brennan had to do a fundraiser to get that $500 or else?"

"Yes?" Jake said although it was more of a question than a reply.

"Yeah, so that "or else" part is now"

"Nick, what are you telling me?"

"Jake, if Brennan doesn't raise that $500 by the end of the week, we lose the field, the team, the assets. If we can't do that, Jake... we're done"

Jake couldn't believe what he just heard.

"And that's not all. If we're fired, Sam Adair doesn't have someone else," Nick said softly.

"Okay? They would just have to hire someone else," Jake said, shrugging on his jacket. He couldn't help but worry though. Nick only used his name a lot when he wanted to talk about something serious or important.

"Jake, Adair wants to bring back Rick Lane"

And that... almost made Jake want to throw up.

Jake rolled into the parking lot at 2 o'clock. The team was gonna be there at three but Jake and Nick had to figure out this humongous problem that had been hanging over their heads for the past few days, but it was just becoming a more real reality.

Ever since Nick had called him that morning, Jake had been more awake at 6 am than ever. He paced the walls of his bedroom for almost an hour trying to rack his brain for how he was going to even begin to tackle this. He couldn't focus straight though because all he could think about was the kids. How much he hadn't even begun to show them all he knew. He still needed to teach them about life, teach Kevin how to throw a curveball like Nolan Ryan once used to, and show them how much bigger baseball actually was. He had worked on a list of ideas for another hour and a half and then he just gave up. Jake had so much bottled-up energy the only thing he could think to do was go for a run. It was pretty freezing but he needed it.

He was halfway up the sidewalk of the local park when Jim Krank came walking down. Jake slowed down as he got nearer.

"Hey, Jake," Jim said, smiling but stopping when he looked at Jake's face. "Uh, oh. I know that look. Gotta release some energy?"

Jake breathed heavily as they started walking towards a bench and sat down together.

"Yeah, unfortunately," he sighed.

"What's up?" Jim asked, looking into Jake's eyes with a wisdom Jake had only seen one other time.

His father.

Jake ran his hand through his hair taking another deep breath. "My team got some bad news this morning and I just needed to blow off some steam until I decided how I'm gonna fix it"

Jim nodded as he stayed silent.

"We have to raise $500 by the end of the week or Nick and I are fired. We lose the field, the team, the assets. Everything"

"Oh, wow. Well, I'm sure you can do it," Jim said, hopefully.

Jake nodded, smiling slightly. "Yeah, that's not my worry though," he said as he winced.

" Well, then what is?"

"If Nick and I lose the team... They want Rick Lane to coach again," Jake said. And he could have sworn steam came out of Jim's ears.

"What?" he almost screamed, his eyes clouding with anger. "That.. you know what should never be allowed to step foot on this campus ever again"

Jake shook his head sadly, looking out at the park, " I know. And to think I was getting better at this," he scoffed. "Only for it to be taken away"

"Hey, hey, hey. You're giving up already?" Jim asked, almost taken aback by what Jake said. Jake Wolff was known to Jim Krank as a guy who never gave up. And when it came to baseball, his strength and resilience was even stronger.

"How do I fix this?" Jake asked. "I... can't even be around my team long enough to feel like I've hurt them before running out. How do I.. band them together to help me if I don't feel like they believe in me?"

It was a rhetorical question but Jim pondered the thoughts and pulled out his phone.

"Oh, what? You're gonna show me a video of how in love I was with baseball before and how I can't- " Jake's voice trailed off as he looked at the screen.

It was an old video of a ball field. The screen was blurred slightly; the video quality was pretty awful. But it didn't take away from the batter.

The swing Jake had yearned to practice for years and years would always catch his eye.

It was Benjamin Wolff, his father.

"No, I wanted to show you your father's home run," Jim said, smiling as he watched Jake look at the screen.

"Why?" Jake asked, cocking his head, tears in his eyes. Jim turned the video off and slipped his phone back in his pocket.

"Because I have to remind you where you come from, kid. You come from a man who, like you, never gave up. Jake Wolff, you are a direct imprint of your father. The day we met for tryouts I could have sworn you were him. My breath had caught in my throat when I shook your hand because everything about you was in essence, him"

"Jim, I'm sorry. But other than making me emotional for the umpteenth time this week, what's your point?" Jake scoffed.

"Jake, my point is you can totally do this. You just need some plan and an idea. I'm sure you can do this. Actually, I know you can. So, get back home, see Nick and put your heads together and make Brennan yours always"

Jake stood up, nodding. "Yeah, yeah. We can come up with something. Thanks, Jim"

Jake turned to run back home until Jim called him back. Jake turned around, looking at him.

"Just remember, Brennan should be yours. You're the best we've ever had, kid. Out of everyone, I know only you can give Brennan the new beginning it desperately needs. You got this," he said again.

And as Jake got dressed for the game back home and headed out again, all he could think of was Jim's message.

Brennan should be his.

"Nick, what's the score?" Jake asked, lackluster.

Brennan was at it again...

"3-0," Nick replied.

"Alright," Jake said, pacing back and forth. "Okay, give me a second. How many mound visits do I have remaining before I have to pull?"

"Jake, you haven't used any yet," Nick said, pausing for a moment.

"Wow, I must be more in the zone than I thought. Starting to forget important things," Jake mumbled. "Blue! Time," he signaled to the umpire and walked out to the mound.

"Hey, guys, what's up?" Jake asked.

"Nothing. And I'm not joking. We have nothing, Coach," Pete Rolfo said from Jake's right side.

Jake probably would have laughed had he said it at some other time. But not now.

"Hey, no talking like that. We have one out, runners on first and third. They're gonna score. So, I'm playing you back then, I'm gonna play my middle guys to turn, alright?"

He got nods and he gave the team a thumbs up. "Okay, let's go and get out of this so we can hit"

"Coach, let's wrap this up," the umpire said, walking closer to the huddle.

"I'm good. Thanks, Blue," Jake said, walking back to the dugout, his tape measure rolling in his hand. He pulled up a bucket next to Jake and signaled to Jake Unger what he wanted Kevin to throw.

"What did you say to them?" Nick asked, looking at Jake.

"Nothing," Jake smirked.

"I know you're lying but alright," Nick said, shaking his head.

And it seemed Jake's plan was going to work. A single up the middle drove in a run. Now he could set up the infield to turn two, even though it wasn't needed.

"My middle guys!" Jake yelled, giving them a swipe down the arm, a signal that they worked out meant they were gonna try a double play. Hunter and Parker looked at each other and took deep breaths nodding. Jake paced in the dugout hoping it would work, for his sake and the teams.

Kevin delivered the pitch and... A line drive that Hunter caught two inches from his face and flipped the ball to Parker. Jake couldn't help but clap and run out to hug them.

"Ay!! Look at you guys! Great job!"

The kids smiled and Jake, even though he knew they probably couldn't rack up enough runs, he was making progress with these kids and with himself.

And that was all that mattered.

The light from the desk lamp was hurting his eyes after looking at his blank sheet of paper and unused, sharpened pencil next to him, but Jake didn't care. He would rack his brain till all the ends of the earth to find an idea that could save the best job he ever had gotten the privilege to work for.

The team had lost the game to a final score of 5-0. They still hadn't scored their first run yet or had their first major hit. But they turned their first double play today, and even though it didn't matter to the scoring of the game, it mattered to Jake and Nick. It screamed progress and that these kids were moving along. Definitely slowly, but surely.

And when Jake had gotten home, he sat himself at his desk and hadn't moved for almost two hours, three at most. His phone was binging with messages from his night table but he hadn't looked at it.

He let his mind drift back to tryout day a few weeks ago. There was no way you could say his life had been easy these past weeks. In fact, Jake was sure he had never experienced so many trials and tribulations in his life. But his life had actually never been better.

He had never known he needed this. He had never really thought about it until he realized how much he actually wanted it. Being Brennan's coach had taught Jake a lot of things. It had taught him that life may not be perfect. He would see great days, better days. Then... worse days. He didn't have everything he wanted, even though sometimes he did feel that way already. In reality, he didn't.

But, he had everything he needed.

Every struggle he faced with this team came down to this moment. The moment where he would have to decide how much he would be willing to sacrifice for.

And the answer to that would always be everything. Jake would give his life for Nick and this team if he had to.

They had made such an impact on his life and he couldn't thank them enough. He wished more people could be impacted in the same, blessed way he was. Baseball is more than a game and he wished he could show it off to other people, not just at Brennan games.

Wait. Maybe he could.

That's it.

Jake got his pencil and scribbled a few things down then tore out of his room and to his car. He had to see Nick.

If this idea was going to work, he needed all hands on deck.

And fast.