61: Highway to Hell
A talented young baseball player's bright future is undone by the silent pressures of teen romance. Follow the journey of a sensitive jovial country youth baseball star from age 6 to 16, as he struggl…
61: Highway to Hell
A talented young baseball player's bright future is undone by the silent pressures of teen romance. Follow the journey of a sensitive jovial country youth baseball star from age 6 to 16, as he struggles to find happiness and success guided by a special relationship with his baseball coach, who ultimately can't protect him from the forces that take his life. This story explores the emotional impact of texting and first love on teenagers, with a look inside their actual communications taken from police statements, text messages and interviews. 6 year-old Chance Smith's mother calls him her "blue baby" because as an infant he would scream himself blue and pass out. "Born intense" as Coach Mike says. Baseball, he assures her, will help with that. Baseball helps with everything. With Coach Mike's unique guidance, Chance learns to quiet his anxiety and discover his natural gifts. Dominant both at bat and on the pitcher's mound, 12 year-old Chance is the heart of the Flash, Coach Mike's select baseball team. Chance's newfound sense of focus and balance sees him through trouble with schoolwork and the thrill of his first love, as well as wins and losses during the baseball season. But when a new player captures Coach Mike's attention, Chance's anxiety rises again. He begins acting out at home and disobeying Coach Mike on the diamond. He leads the Flash to victory, but the looming end of the baseball season casts a shadow over even that. By the age of 16, Chance is a star player and a beloved class clown. But his anxiety remains, and it darkens everything around him. —John Crye
61: Highway to Hell
Comedy
Film Details
A talented young baseball player's bright future is undone by the silent pressures of teen romance. Follow the journey of a sensitive jovial country youth baseball star from age 6 to 16, as he struggles to find happiness and success guided by a special relationship with his baseball coach, who ultimately can't protect him from the forces that take his life. This story explores the emotional impact of texting and first love on teenagers, with a look inside their actual communications taken from police statements, text messages and interviews.
6 year-old Chance Smith's mother calls him her "blue baby" because as an infant he would scream himself blue and pass out. "Born intense" as Coach Mike says. Baseball, he assures her, will help with that.
Baseball helps with everything. With Coach Mike's unique guidance, Chance learns to quiet his anxiety and discover his natural gifts. Dominant both at bat and on the pitcher's mound, 12 year-old Chance is the heart of the Flash, Coach Mike's select baseball team.
Chance's newfound sense of focus and balance sees him through trouble with schoolwork and the thrill of his first love, as well as wins and losses during the baseball season. But when a new player captures Coach Mike's attention, Chance's anxiety rises again. He begins acting out at home and disobeying Coach Mike on the diamond.
He leads the Flash to victory, but the looming end of the baseball season casts a shadow over even that. By the age of 16, Chance is a star player and a beloved class clown. But his anxiety remains, and it darkens everything around him.
—John Crye.