The little league season is over for Kaden Zimorowicz, but the 10-year-old from Scranton doesn't let that stop him from playing his favorite sport.
"I just like it so much," Zimorowicz said. "I just always played it."
And played it well. His dad, Mike Zimorowicz was a star pitcher at East Stroudsburg. Following in his dad's footsteps, Kaden plays Cal Ripken and travel ball. That's where they found out about the USSSA All-America Games, and after a tryout in New Jersey, he waited to hear his name called.
"I was very nervous, I was like, 'oh,' Zimorowicz explained his initial disappointment.
"He turned, looked at me and said, 'well, dad, I could work harder and try next year, right?'" his father, Mike said.
However, they made the announcement alphabetically. They called his name. They didn't pronounce it correctly, but Zimorowicz did not care. He made the northeast team for the nine and under All-America Games.
"He was kind of shocked and shaken and a few tears came out of his eyes," the elder Zimorowicz remembered.
"It was like I just won the World Series," Kaden said.
It was a well-deserved moment.
"His goal was always to be like the McCarthy's, the Stetzar's, the Kranick's of the world from the area and he's been around those kids growing up," Mike Zimorowicz said. "So, he puts in the work and works hard everyday."
Zimorowicz eats, drinks and sleeps baseball. He comes here to the Sandlot Baseball Academy nearly every day, working on his pitching, his fielding, and yes, his hitting.
"He's always one step ahead of me, one step ahead of a lot of other kids because he's doing things on his own and he wants to do it," Mike Zimorowicz said.
Zimorowicz is one of just 200 players nationwide to make the games. He's the only player from Pennsylvania.
"It's going to be a lot harder and there's going to be better players," Kaden Zimorowicz said. "I'm really excited."
"To see where a kid from Scranton, Pa and up north stacks up, it's going to be very interesting to see how he is against other nine-year-olds throughout the country," Kaden's father explained.
The Nine and Under USSSA All-American Games are in August in Cape Canaveral, Florida.