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By Bobby Ross Jr. | Religion Unplugged

FORT WORTH, Texas — “You Gotta Believe,” opening in theaters on Friday, recounts a youth baseball team’s thrilling, improbable journey all the way to the 2002 Little League World Series.

The PG-rated film details how the Westside All-Stars of Fort Worth came together as Bobby Ratliff, father of 12-year-old first baseman Robert Ratliff, battled terminal cancer.

In one compelling scene, Bobby Ratliff (portrayed by Luke Wilson) clenches his hands behind his head and closes his eyes as he seeks intervention from above.

“Please, God, don’t take me away from my family,” he prays out loud. 

Robert Ratliff (Michael Cash) overhears his father and wants to know, “Why would God let you be taken away, Dad?”

A conversation about life and death ensues.

“What happens when you die?” the son asks.

“Well,” the father replies, “I hope I get to go to heaven.”

The interaction offers a fleeting glimpse of faith in a movie (also starring Greg Kinnear as coach Jon Kelly) that focuses on perseverance and the human spirit as the underdog ballplayers’ winning strategy.

In real life, God played a more crucial role in the Ratliff household, said Robert, now a 34-year-old vice president for an insurance company. His mother, Patti (played by Sarah Gadon in the movie), is now 71. His younger brother, John, is 31.

“We prayed in our house,” Robert, who was raised Catholic, told Religion Unplugged. “We prayed in good times and bad times. My parents deserve the credit there because that was always the norm, right?”

Simply put, Robert emphasized, “There’s no way I’d be where I am today without God.”

Read the full column.

This column appears in the online magazine Religion Unplugged.

Photo provided by Well Go USA Entertainment