A college community confronts a revived ownership claim on two historic campus cannons that provokes rivalry with a neighboring school and galvanizes student attention. Debates and mass meetings over the demand intertwine with efforts to organize and captain the baseball nine, revealing tensions about leadership and loyalty. Secret letters, intercepted communications, clandestine night expeditions, and disciplinary hearings escalate conflicts and test allegiances. On-field contests and off-field investigations produce setbacks, reckonings, and unexpected friendships. Through perseverance, teamwork, and strategic adjustments the students reshape their fortunes and resolve campus divisions, culminating in decisive games that determine both athletic success and communal standing.