Photo courtesy of Harman Watkins.
Brayden Watkins of Vestavia Hills recently placed third in his age group in MLB's "Pitch, Hit, Run" contest and was flown to Houston to watch the 2022 World Series.
Brayden Watkins, a 9-year-old Vestavia Hills resident, recently placed third nationally among the 9- and 10-year-old age group in Major League Baseball’s “Pitch, Hit & Run” competition, winning a trip to the 2022 World Series.
“It was really fun,” Brayden said.
Brayden won multiple earlier rounds of the competition to advance to the final four in his age group, which meant he and his family were flown out to Houston to watch a World Series game before competing for the championship, which was livestreamed on MLB.com during an off day for the teams.
“It was really cool; I saw the best players in the league,” Brayden said.
Brayden said he learned to never give up and to keep going, even when he’s struggling.
Brayden’s dad, Harman Watkins, said the competition focuses on the three areas mentioned in its name, turning outcomes into points. Players get five pitches, with a score based on how many times the player hit the strike zone. In hitting, the players hit five balls off of a tee, with the cumulative distance creating a score.
This was the first year the competition was offered at the youth baseball level in Vestavia Hills, Harman said, and he knew his son wouldn’t be happy if he didn’t sign up.
Brayden won his group in Vestavia and then went down to Tampa to compete in regionals at Tropicana Field, which he also won, sending him to Houston. All expenses are paid by the league, which also treated the family to a watch party of Game 1 before the group was able to watch the second game of the World Series.
“It was really cool,” Harman said. “You’re hitting on the field big leaguers did the night before.”
The Houston Astros were pretty lenient on what the kids could do, Watkins said, allowing them to be in the dugout and more.
Brayden has been playing baseball since he was 4 years old, Harman said. While the family knew he was good, they did not realize how good or that he could win a competition like this, Harman said.
“He’s very talented,” Harman said.
