1 2 3 4 5
Madison is a girl who lives in Brooklyn with her mother, Sara, and younger brother, James, in a small apartment. Her dream is to play baseball, but there is only a boys’ team at her school. She tries out for the team. However, some of the boys do not understand why she wants to play baseball. They believe she should do a “girls” activity, like cheerleading.
When Madison makes the team, some of her new teammates are not happy. They believe certain activities are for boys and others are for girls.
Madison’s best friend, Sheila, encourages her in everything she does. Sheila is always ready to assist her friend when she needs help.
Main themes include friendship, solidarity, honesty, stereotypes and discrimination.
Spazio didascalia
In this reader:
21st Century Skills
2030 Agenda
Preliminary
Simple Story
Glossary Picture Caption
To encourage students to connect the story to the world they live in.
B1 level activities.
A brief summary of the paragraph.
Explanation of difficult words.
A brief explanation of the picture.
Audio start stop
Think
These icons indicate the parts of the story that are recorded.
To encourage students to develop their critical thinking skills.
The FSC® certification guarantees that the paper used in these publications comes from certified forests, promoting responsible forestry management worldwide.
For this series of ELI graded readers, we have planted 5000 new trees.
Lisa Mary Vecchione Baseball Dreams
Illustrated by Rodolfo Brocchini
Teen Eli Readers
The ELI Readers collection is a complete range of books and plays for readers of all ages, ranging from captivating contemporary stories to timeless classics. There are four series, each catering for a different age group: First ELI Readers, Young ELI Readers, Teen ELI Readers and Young Adult ELI Readers. The books are carefully edited and beautifully illustrated to capture the essence of the stories and plots. The readers are supplemented with ‘Focus on’ texts packed with background cultural information.
Baseball Dreams
Lisa Mary Vecchione
Illustrated by Rodolfo Brocchini
ELI Readers
Founder and Series Editors
Paola Accattoli, Grazia Ancillani, Daniele Garbuglia (Art Director)
Graphic Design
Emilia Coari
Production Manager
Francesco Capitano
Photo credits
Shutterstock
© 2025 ELI s.r.l. P.O. Box 6
62019 Recanati MC Italy
T +39 071750701
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Typeset in 12 / 17 pt
Fulmar designed by Leo Philp
Printed in Italy by Tecnostampa - Pigini Group
Printing Division
Loreto - Trevi - ERT332.10
ISBN 978-88-536-4576-0
First edition: March 2025 www.eligradedreaders.com
6 Main Characters 8 Before you read
Chapter 1 Baseball is for BOYS!
Activities
Chapter 2 The Tryout
Activities
Chapter 3 Practice Makes Perfect
Activities 40 Chapter 4 The Dilemma 48 Activities 50 Chapter 5 A Great Idea
Activities 60 Chapter 6 Baking Away
Activities
70 Focus on... Baseball: The History of the Sport
72 Focus on... 2030 Agenda: Gender Equality Let’s meet Marika Lyszczyk
74 Focus on... Take me out to the … Cinema! Baseball in Movies
77 Test Yourself
79 Syllabus
Main Characters
15 year-old girl in her sophomore year of high school who really loves baseball.
Madison’s best friend and biggest supporter.
Madison’s 12-year-old brother.
The junior varsity baseball coach.
The team’s catcher who isn’t a great student.
Her high school guidance counselor.
Madison’s 15-year-old teammate and neighbor.
Madison’s mother, who supports her in everything she does.
Before you read
Vocabulary
1 Match the pictures to the words.
a Baseball cleats
b Baseball mitt/glove
c Baseball helmet
d Pitcher’s mound
e Ball
f Home plate
g Umpire
h Base
Writing
2 Complete the rules of baseball with the missing words. Baseball is a (1) played between two teams of nine players each. It is played on a diamond-shaped playing (2) . It has four (3) : first base, second base, third base and home plate. In the (4) ___________ is the Pitcher’s mound. The game is (5) into nine innings. Each (6) ___________ is divided in half. The players of one team take (7) coming to bat. They try to (8) the ball. If they swing three times without (9) ___________ the ball, inning
