Duel at the Mound

Duel at the Mound tells the story of two baseball players who now retired keep the dream of baseball alive in a secret duel. Walt (Michael Hanelin) struggles to get his daughter back from a broken marriage while studying to be a nurse. Mel (Jonathan Medina) tries his hand at high school teaching while looking for a woman who can understand him. But the one thing that holds each of these men together is the duel, their secret meeting, their baseball ritual. With everything in their lives tearing them away from the game, will they be able to hold onto it… and their friendship?

Director’s Note

I wrote and directed Duel at the Mound from my true love of baseball. Not a love for the stats or one that drives me to watch it on TV all the time but a love for the history of the game and what it means to our country, our culture. After watching Ken Burns’ Baseball, I decided to write this feature about two men who can’t let go of the game and how they’re trying to achieve balance in life. In many ways like a lot of our films, it reflects my own passion for film and a struggle to find balance in life between the craft and the personal.

It’s one of those films of ours that doesn’t get much attention but I think it’s as good as anything we’ve done.

-Travis Mills