‘Means a lot’: Movie about dying dad, Fort Worth little league team’s run in world series

Brayden Garcia
·3 min read

A film about the Fort Worth All-Star baseball team that reached the Little League World Series is coming to theaters this summer.

North Texas-based Well Go USA Entertainment has acquired the distribution rights to the baseball film, “You Gotta Believe.” The film is slated to release in theaters on Aug. 30, according to Deadline Hollywood.

“You Gotta Believe” is based on the Fort Worth Westside All-Star baseball team that dedicated their 2002 season to a teammate’s dying father and subsequently reached the Little League World Series.

Texas actor Luke Wilson is playing Bobby Ratliff, the ailing father who inspired the team and died the following year in 2003. Actor Greg Kinnear is playing the team’s head coach Jon Kelly, who still lives in Fort Worth and told the Star-Telegram last year that he was excited for the Hollywood treatment.

“It really means a lot to me,” Kelly said last summer. “I think the cast that they assembled is really good for this project. It will present our team in a really good light.”

In Aug. of 2002 members of the Westside All-Stars Patton Eagle, 12, left, Robbby Lebus, 11, Jack Huckabay, 12, and Mark Grace, 12, returned to DFW after playing in the Little League World Series. Their season and run to the LLWS is becoming a Hollywood motion picture starring Luke Wilson and Greg Kinnear. Ron T. Ennis/Fort Worth Star-Telegram archives

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“You Gotta Believe” is directed by Ty Roberts, who helmed another Fort Worth-centric sports story a few years ago in “12 Might Orphans.”

In fact, several of the creatives behind “12 Mighty Orphans” have a hand in “You Gotta Believe.” Roberts and screenwriter Lane Garrison wrote both movies, while producer Houston Hill also counts credits on the pair.

However, unlike “12 Mighty Orphans” which filmed around Fort Worth, “You Gotta Believe” went into production in Canada.

The Star-Telegram reported last year that most of the filming on “You Gotta Believe” took place in Toronto, due to budgetary reasons. Originally, the filmmakers planned to film in Fort Worth but moved production north of the border after stateside funding fell through.

“You Gotta Believe” also stars Sarah Gadon, Molly Parker and “The Sandlot” actor Patrick Renna.

The film’s Aug. 30 release date comes just a few days after the 2024 Little League World Series wraps up in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, on Aug. 25.

During their 2002 Little League World Series run, the Fort Worth team faced elimination 11 times and won every game. But in the semifinals, Fort Worth lost 2-1 to a team from Kentucky in 11 innings.

Many of the Fort Worth players remain in touch since the outing over two decades ago. In 2022, the team reunited on the same Fort Worth field they played at as children.

“You Gotta Believe” releases theatrically nationwide on Aug. 30.