'Like I was playing in the big leagues': Meadowbrook 8th grader competes in national event

BYESVILLE − "I felt like I was playing in the big leagues, getting to play under the lights on those turf fields was the best thing ever."

That's the way Meadowbrook 8th grade student Kolton Perez described his recent experience participating in the United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) All American Games at the Space Coast Complex in Melbourne, Florida.

Perez, the 13-year-old son of Tim and Gretchen Perez and Carol and Tylor Sasser, got to finally get a taste of travel baseball during the event held July 24-30.

The USSSA All American Baseball Program is one of the premier recognition programs for youth baseball players in the United States. The program recognizes top players in multiple age groups, providing them with opportunities to showcase their skills and compete against the best players from around the country.

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"We have been looking for several years to get hooked up with a travel team around our area," Tim Perez said. "But we could never find anything permanent. Kolton played on the Meadowbrook middle school team and did get to play a few tournaments with Doug Peterson in Cambridge who had a team. He really enjoyed that, it really just made him more determined to find a travel team."

"I was looking around online an came across the tryout info for the USSSA and talked it over with Kolton," Tim Perez said. "He decided he wanted to give it a try, so we got registered for the tryouts."

Making the team

The next step was traveling to Columbus to attend the tryouts which were held at the D-BAT facility in Gahanna, where Kolton tried out for one of the 12 spots for the Northeast Region team, which included players from Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Kentucky.

After the tryouts, the top athletes from each region were selected to represent their region in the All American Games, which is the main event of the program. The All American Games are held annually at the USSSA Space Coast Complex, which is a world-class, state-of-the-art facility located in Melbourne, Florida.

The complex was built to provide players with an opportunity to play at a first-class facility in a beautiful location, and the games held are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for players to showcase their abilities and be recognized as one of the best baseball players in their age group.

Perez had a good tryout and was selected for the Northeast Red Team, as there was also a Northeast Blue Team selected to attend the All-American Games.

Best of the best

Once down at the Space Camp Complex, Perez expressed it was an eye-opening experience with the talent of the players combined with the impressive facilities.

"It was just really something else. There were so many really good players there. One of the kids had played 75 games this summer so far, and he traveled all over the place. He was really, really good." Kolton said. "There were 15 fields and all of them were turf, lights on all the fields and everything was so nice. I was really nervous at first, but once I settled down, it was really fun to be playing with so many good players.

"I got to pitch and play a lot in the outfield," Perez said. "One of the best things was that everybody pulled for each other. Nobody got on you if you struck out or made an error. That was really different and something I wasn't used to, but all the guys were really great, and it just made it so much fun."

Perez's team enjoyed a solid showing, advancing to the semifinals before being eliminated from the tournament.

"It was so much more than I ever thought it would be," Kolton Perez said. "Everybody down there played hard all the time, and they were all good players. It was the best baseball I have ever played and I want to do it again next year. It was just awesome, so much fun."

One proud papa

His father, Tim, as well as the family was glad Kolton was able to experience the event. They hope playing with those caliber of players will aid his development.

"I think the whole thing showed him he needs to work harder to realize his goal," Tim Perez said. "I think his love for the game grew even more and that's all I could ask for. To see him go down there and compete like he did made his mom and I so proud of him."

KSutton1@gannett.com; Twitter: @KevinDJsports; Instagram: kevinsutton_dailyjeffsports

This article originally appeared on The Daily Jeffersonian: Kolton Perez fuels baseball passion with trip to USSSA event