By Jody Tuso-Key; Managing Editor

I’m going to start with two seemingly contradictory facts: I love baseball… and baseball does not love me back.

Now, I’m not hopeless. In college intramurals I played catcher and was perfectly respectable. No one actively feared me at the plate, but I owned that squat. Still, let’s just say the MLB draft committee continues to sleep peacefully at night.

My devotion to the sport runs so deep that I literally live at a minor league stadium. My apartment is tucked behind the scoreboard, and from my balcony I can see the outfield. I watch the grounds crew manicure the field like it’s the Augusta National of baseball. I moved in back in December and have been counting down to opening pitch like a child waiting for Santa. This week we finally got a teaser—two high school games and a college matchup—and it feel like baseball was whispering, “I’m back.”

Baseball is stitched into the fabric of America. It gave us legends like Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, and Satchel Page. It was once the ultimate budget-friendly sport. All you needed was a bat, a ball, and four vaguely base-shaped objects. Generations of kids played in sandlots, chasing fly balls and big-league dreams.

One of those kids was Marcenia Lyle.

Growing up in North Carolina, Marcenia played with the neighborhood boys—despite her parents’ objections—and earned the nickname “Tomboy.” (Which, let’s be honest, is just code for “better than half the boys out here.”) With encouragement from her priest, she became the first girl to play on the St. Peter Claver Catholic Church boys’ baseball team.

Her story was later turned into a children’s book by Crystal Hubbard and is now adapted for the stage as CATCHING THE MOON: THE STORY OF A YOUNG GIRL’S BASEBALL DREAM, currently running at Synchronicity Theatre through March 15—just in time to get us all properly hyped for the 2026 season.

Here’s the thing about dreams: they don’t start practical. They start bold. Slightly unreasonable. Borderline delusional.

Marcenia didn’t care that there were no women in professional baseball. That wasn’t a deterrent; that was a vacancy. She believed she could fill it. She knew she was good—really good—and she had zero interest in shrinking herself to fit someone else’s rulebook.

When she hears about a baseball camp led by the legendary Mr. Street, she’s determined to attend. There are just a few tiny obstacles. She has to convince him she belongs.  Mr. Street tells her she needs three things: talent, a glove, and cleats.. She’s got the talent and the glove. The cleats? That’s where things get complicated. How does she round the bases toward her dream? No spoilers here. You’ll have to see it for yourself.

From the moment you enter the theater, it feels like you’ve stepped inside a picture book. The set centers on a ballpark, complete with a scoreboard on audience right and a glowing, winking moon on audience left. Home plate sits front and center like it’s daring someone to steal second. Scenic pieces roll in and out smoothly, transforming the space into city streets, storefronts, and neighborhood scenes with storybook charm.

Director Charity Purvis-Jordan runs this production like a championship manager. Everything clicks. Scenic designers Alexander Whittenburg and Gavin Mosier create a world that feels warm and nostalgic without tipping into cliché. Costume designer Alisha Monique nails the details—especially Marcelina’s Sunday dress, which she insists is her “uniform.” It’s appropriately dirt-streaked, because sliding into base waits for no ruffles. Lighting by Maliya McCall and sound by Johnathan “JT” Taylor round out the atmosphere beautifully.

The cast may be small, but they deliver like a stacked lineup.

Karastyn Bibb is magnetic as Marcelina. Her voice soars, her energy never dips, and you can’t help but root for her—even if you walked in not knowing a thing about baseball. Brittani Minniweather is the ultimate utility player, portraying Mama Lyle, the Moon (yes, the Moon), and several other roles. In baseball terms, she’s the one you keep in the lineup no matter what. She brings warmth, humor, and just the right amount of magic. Deshawn Williams (Harold) and Jovahn Burroughs (Clarence) as Mercelina’s best friends and teammates perfectly capture the bravado and chaos of young boys. As someone who teaches middle school, I can confirm: the accuracy is almost alarming. Sean Dale gives Papa Lyle a seriousness that’s balanced with genuine tenderness. And Patrick Wade as Mr. Street brings both authority and a resonant voice that reminds you why everyone in town would want to impress him.

Even if baseball isn’t your thing, this show absolutely is. It’s about grit. It’s about belief. It’s about daring to step onto a field that wasn’t built with you in mind and saying, “I’ll take it from here.”

And if you’re like me—living behind a scoreboard and counting the days until opening pitch—this one feels a lot like hope rounding third and heading home.

And here’s the rest of the story…