Brayden Hart stated that baseball is his life.

Life has been exceedingly good this year.

After helping the Lampeter-Strasburg (L-S) High School squad to a district title, Brayden earned a spot on the Pennsylvania team in The Big 26 Classic. Pennsylvania defeated Maryland two games to one in a best-of-three-series to capture the tournament, which was played in FNB Park in Harrisburg on July 31 and Aug. 2 and 3. Brayden started each game in right field and batted third.

Brayden belted a booming double in an 8-3 loss in game one. Pennsylvania took game two 5-2 to force a decisive third game. With the contest tied at 8-8, Pennsylvania plated three unanswered runs, and Brayden scored one of them.

"It was definitely very competitive, and there was a a little trash talk, too," said Brayden, who was the only Lancaster-Lebanon League player to make the team. "It was great to win. We had a dog pile, a huge celebration. It was definitely really, really great."

The Big 26 Classic was about more than baseball, and Brayden relished the opportunity to strike up a friendship with his "Buddy," Tyler Hooven. "It was absolutely great, especially with the Buddy program, where you get paired with a Buddy, and they get to come to your games," Brayden said. "The first day, we got to play a game with them, and we had a pizza party." The Buddies attended each game, and their names are announced with the players over the stadium's PA system.

"It was great meeting his whole family," Brayden said. "They were super nice. He was super nice, and he was definitely interested in baseball and had a bunch of fun."

A few days after the tournament, Tyler sent Brayden a gift card to a sporting goods store, and Brayden plans to send something in return.

Brayden is entering his senior year at L-S. Last season, he clubbed a three-run homer in the district championship game. "We had so much energy coming into that game," he said. "We wanted that district championship really, really bad."

The Pioneers advanced to the state semifinals. "It was amazing," Brayden said. "We knew we had the resources with pitching, hitting, fielding, all that, and we definitely knew we could do it, and it was great. It was a great run."

As the starting catcher, he hit .353 with 30 hits and was named to the all-section team. He plans to continue his baseball career after high school. "I'm still looking at a couple colleges right now, but I'm definitely going to go somewhere to play," said Brayden.

He said he is thankful for his parents, Justin and Tiffany Hart, and his grandparents Mike and Naja Hart. "They put a lot of time and money into helping me, for sure," he said.