Nicholas Patterson to play in the USSSA All American Showcase

Nicholas Patterson, 10, has loved the game of baseball as long as he can remember. He started playing tee-ball at the age of four.

Nicholas Patterson earns position in the USSSA All American Showcase to be played in Orlando, Fla.

He has achieved a milestone in his baseball career as he will be representing the Southeast Region in the All American Showcase games to be played in Orlando, Fla. The Southeast Region is made up of six states, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama.

There were 325 players trying out in the 10 year old division at the All American Showcase held June 1 in Jonesboro. Over 2,000 young athletes tried out over the six state region. A National Team and an American Team made up of 12 boys on each team are chosen from each region to compete in the American Showcase games.

Nicholas plays short stop and pitcher positions. He has played on the Jonesboro USSSA traveling team, the J Town Scrappers, for two years. The J Town Scrappers team is coached by Mark Dobson.

Nicholas has a lot of support from his family. He is the son of Greg and Gail Patterson of Leachville. They have traveled many baseball miles together over the last two years. Their vacation time is baseball time.

It is an honor for Nicholas to have the opportunity to play in the games. He has a list of his team members for the showcase games, but he does not know any of them and does not know what state they are from. He is looking forward to meeting them and making new friends.

Nicholas does not take it all for granted. He appreciates the support from his family and has been working to help raise money for the trip. He has chopped in a peanut field for a local farmer and on Tuesday, Aug. 2, he will be waiting tables at Chic-fil-A in Jonesboro from 5-7 p.m. He will earn a portion of the sales during Spirit Nite. Nicholas appreciates all the encouragement he receives from his family and friends.

His older brother, Franklin, 14, recently played with his team, Faultline, in the USSSA World Series held in Kansas City, Mo. His team won the championship game. His oldest brother, Gregory, 15, is a basketball player.

Nicholas will be in Orlando on Sunday, Aug. 7 until Saturday, Aug. 13. The opening ceremonies will be held on Monday morning. Team practices will be held and pool play will continue on Tuesday and Wednesday with bracket seeding and bracket play on Wednesday and Thursday. The Championship Days for all age divisions will be Friday and Saturday. The championship game for the 10 year old teams will be Friday. The championship games will be televised on ESPN.

Nicholas will be wearing number 10 on the National League team.

Nicholas will return just in time for the first day of school where he will be going into the fifth grade at Manila Middle School.