In this chap­ter titled “An Appari­tion on the Prac­tice Field,” the Cubs find them­selves on the brink of a cham­pi­onship game against Faith Bap­tist, a rematch from a pre­vi­ous, dev­as­tat­ing defeat. The scene is set on a bright day in Simi Val­ley where play­ers from two Chris­t­ian schools par­tic­i­pate in a prayer led by a pas­tor, empha­siz­ing the val­ues of faith and sports­man­ship in their com­pe­ti­tion. The chap­ter high­lights the con­trast­ing back­grounds of the two schools: Faith Bap­tist, aim­ing for a sec­ond con­sec­u­tive cham­pi­onship, and Grace Brethren, starved for a title after twen­ty-two years.

Grace Brethren’s his­to­ry is explored briefly; found­ed in 1978 fol­low­ing a trag­ic event, the school has grown sig­nif­i­cant­ly since its incep­tion. The chap­ter recounts the neglect that Grace Brethren’s team felt after a crush­ing 70–22 loss to Faith Bap­tist, out­lin­ing play­ers’ stats and key fig­ures, such as A.C. Swadling and Park­er Mills, who have excelled on the field. The focus shifts to the Cubs’ coach­ing staff in the lead-up to the game, where exten­sive prepa­ra­tions are under­way, includ­ing ana­lyz­ing Faith Baptist’s plays from a metic­u­lous game film binder.

The chap­ter also reveals the psy­cho­log­i­cal tac­tics employed by the Cubs’ coach­ing staff, who uti­lize imagery of last year’s defeat to fuel the team’s moti­va­tion. With a week of inten­sive prac­tice ahead, an unex­pect­ed turn occurs when Chris­t­ian Jimenez, a key play­er recov­er­ing from injury, resolves to join his team­mates despite med­ical advice against it. His inner tur­moil is laid bare, illus­trat­ing the strug­gle between desire and cau­tion as he nav­i­gates the risks of return­ing to play.

Chris­tian’s deter­mi­na­tion res­onates through­out the nar­ra­tive, por­tray­ing his quest for redemp­tion and the weight of respon­si­bil­i­ty he feels towards his team. He decides to pro­cure a leg brace to help him play, empha­siz­ing that this game is not only cru­cial in terms of sports­man­ship but also holds per­son­al sig­nif­i­cance as the final game of his high school career. Ulti­mate­ly, the chap­ter cap­tures both the com­pet­i­tive spir­it of the teams involved and the emo­tion­al stakes for the play­ers as they pre­pare for a defin­ing moment in their lives, bal­anc­ing hope with the real­i­ty of the risks they face on the field.