8-year-old Estero kid competing for all-expense paid trip to World Series

An 8-year-old from Estero is competing in the team finals of the MLB Pitch Run Hit competition. The competition will be held at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg and the winner gets to go to the World Series.

Hitting a baseball off a tee comes naturally to 8-year-old Owen Fielder. Owen, a big New York Mets fan, has been swinging away, smacking balls off tees for seven years.

“Hitting off a tee inside our house in New York. And I was like hitting around the house like all day,” said Owen.

“Owen would have bases and we had a hardwood floor. And he would run and slide head first into bases,” said Kaylee Fielder, Owen’s mother.

Owen went from knocking off glass cups on the counter to sending shots to the outfield on his baseball travel team. Every night he practices hitting from the tee in the garage.

“He hasn’t lost any love for the game. I can say that. Watching him grow into a more mature athlete has been really rewarding for both me and my husband,” said Kaylee.

On Saturday, Owen will be racing on the Diamond at Tropicana Field, where the Tampa Bay Rays play, competing in the MLB Pitch Hit Run competition.

“It’s going to be so fun. Cause there might be players on the field like warming up on the other side. Because there’s a game that day,” said Owen.

Owen told WINK News it’ll be his first time on a major league field. He’s ready to make the most of it, with his family there to cheer him on.

“I want him to go out there and I want him to have a lot of fun. I want him to try his hardest. I want him to walk away and know he did everything he could,” said Kaylee.

“Just like try as hard as I can. And try to swing as hard as I can. Run as hard as I can,” said Owen.

It’ll be a family event at Tropicana Field, because Owen’s grandparents are flying in from Binghamton, New York to watch him. If Owen advances, he gets an all-expense paid trip to the World Series.