Author Craig Ohlau’s first hit, The Sons of Chester, was a home run, immortalizing a group of brothers from a small, death-row river town growing up in the 90s. In his next at-bat, the bases are loaded, and he does it again with Kings of the County League.

Kings of the County League presents baseball unadorned, a game sweet enough to lure ex-big leaguers, grown men married with kids still living for the occasional square-up, college upstarts dreaming of the pros, and the blossoming high school hopefuls looking to hang with the “big boys” every summer to the scorched, dusty sandlots in the middle of America’s heartland.

Set against the backdrop of a small German town in southern Illinois just minutes from the big city, the story charts the history and fortunes of one manager, one baseball club, and one summer in town vs. town, you versus me mid-western county league baseball. The funny and poignant story reminds us of the real meaning of summer, friends, and what was America’s favorite pastime.