Tampa Bay 12-year-old pitches, hits and runs his way to World Series

TAMPA, Fla. - Like so many around the Tampa Bay area, Christian Gaines has been playing baseball for as long as he can remember and grew up loving the game. 

"It's really competitive, and you get to play against different people that might be at a higher level than you. So, you learn more," says Christian. 

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And over the years, this 12-year-old from Bloomingdale has turned into a budding young star. 

"It's the power, his strength, his size, his IQ for the game and his coachability," said Christian's private coach Orlando Ramirez. "His coachability is huge and the potential he has is amazing." 

While Christian usually spends his summers playing on his travel baseball team, this summer, he tried something new. 

On a whim, Christian's mother, Chaquanda Wade, signed her son up for a local Major League Baseball Pitch, Hit & Run tournament. 

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"He jumped into it very cold," Wade explained. "We just vacationed. We returned home that same day, dropped our luggage off, and went straight there. So, I wasn't sure how that was going to turn out." 

As it would turn out, Christian proved himself to be the best player on the field that day. 

Despite the lack of preparation, Christian won his age group and advanced to a regional tournament at Tropicana Field. 

"I felt really great and felt proud of myself for what I was achieving," said Christian. 

Christian's days of winging it, however, were over as he began to practice his technical skills that would help him the most throughout Pitch, Hit & Run competitions. 

The results, meanwhile, would stay the same as Christian won his regional qualifier and earned the right to represent the Rays at the Pitch, Hit & Run national championships hosted at the World Series in Texas. 

"It felt like I was an actual MLB player, playing for the Rays," said Christian. 

Complete with a customized throwback Devil Rays jersey, Christian headed to the World Series where he would once again try to stand above the rest. 

"I was really nervous when I heard that I was going to be on live TV, but I just had to focus on winning," Christian said. 

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Putting all nerves aside, the 12-year-old from Bloomingdale separated himself from the pack, once again, and earned a Pitch, Hit & Run national title. 

"It was really cool. And it was really fun to have other people get to see me play," Chrisitan said. 

Now, Christian has some impressive hardware to show off when baseball season comes around again while getting a trip to the World Series he is sure to remember forever.