High School Baseball Player Will Meet President Obama

Soon, 16-year-old baseball player Jimmy Kazunas will have a chance to do what most student athletes won’t — meet President Barack Obama.

Kazunas will meet with the president on Thursday, July 28.

He will head to the White House through the American Legion Post 295 junior baseball team, whose athletes hail from high schools throughout Upcounty. Kazunas will be one of a few high school players representing the American Legion Boys State delegates from around the county.

“I'm extremely excited [to meet the president] as well as being able to visit one of the most historic landmarks that shaped our country's history, the White House,” said Kazunas.

Kazunas is a rising senior at Good Counsel High School in Olney. He also runs track and cross country for his school where he is an all Washington Catholic Athletic Conference cross-country runner and runs at least eight miles every day.

Kazunas has played baseball since the age of 4. Junior Legion baseball team manager Steve Cononie has known Kazunas since he was 10.

“He’s a great kid, he’s a super individual [who] listens very well and is very good with criticism,” Cononie said. “He is one of the guys that puts in extra time and extra effort to be able to give 110 percent on and off the field.

Instead of pursuing a career playing professional baseball, Kazunas said he has other interests.

“I would like to pursue a career in the military," he said. "My main interest is aeronautical engineering.”