Detroit ― The Tigers will be represented at the World Series, after all ― by one of their biggest fans.

Matthew Williams II, a 10-year-old from West Bloomfield who has been playing baseball since he could first swing a bat at age 2, will participate in Major League Baseball’s 29th Pitch, Hit & Run Finals in Toronto on Sunday, after attending Game 2 of the World Series between the Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday.

Matthew is one of 40 kids from throughout the nation who qualified for the finals ― 20 boys in the baseball competition, and 20 girls in softball, in four different age groups.

“I am thrilled. He’s a very hard worker. He loves baseball,” said Michael Williams, Matthew’s grandfather. “He’s very involved in baseball. When most kids are watching cartoons, he’s watching baseball with me. He’s just that type of kid.”

Matthew was set to leave for Toronto on Thursday afternoon, but he used the morning to get some last-minute work in at Harwell Field with three members of the Wayne State baseball team.

Matthew and the Wayne State players did some stretching drills, hitting drills and base-running drills, before Matthew shyly met with several members of the local media.

Matthew talks softly, but his game is big. He plays travel ball, and plays for several different teams.

“Honestly, it started with just watching baseball, and the more we watched it, the more he wanted to start to emulate what he saw on TV. From there, it just kind of grew,” said Matthew Williams, the young Matthew’s father. “He definitely plays video games, but the main thing that he does to fill his time is watching baseball, watching highlights, ‘How does he do it?’ He can learn how to be just like them and make it to the bigs.”

The Williams family says baseball runs in the family. Michael, the grandfather, played it. Matthew Sr., who grew up in the Rosedale Park neighborhood in Detroit, played at Wayne State from 2006-09, and was all-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference his senior year, batting .366.

He finished his career sixth in stolen bases in Wayne state history. Maybe it’s not a coincidence, then, that his son’s favorite part of the three-pronged competition is the running.

Matthew qualified for the finals during a regional competition at Comerica Park earlier this year. There, he got to meet his favorite player, Tigers veteran Javy Báez.

“He just inspires me as a shortstop and a center fielder,” said Matthew, wearing a home Tigers jersey and a Tigers cap. “I want to work hard and be great.

“I’m going to represent Detroit and I’m going to try to win.”

The finals on Sunday will be streamed live on MLB.com, starting at 9:30 a.m. The competition, in the spirit of Drive, Chip & Putt which culminates with the finals each year at the Masters, has had some notable alums throughout the years, including Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson.

Matthew, who also counts Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz among his favorite players (the two share a similar long-hair style), is focused on shortstop, but he’s played pretty much every position.

Matthew is an alumnus of the Tiny Tigers and Play Ball Detroit, and he considers the Tigers his favorite team. In fact, asked who he’s rooting for at the Blue Jays-Dodgers World Series, he said he’s rooting for the Tigers. Detroit finished the season five wins shy of making its first World Series since 2012, before Matthew was even born.

Michael Williams, Matthew’s grandfather, remembers the 1968 World Series, and 1984, too. Baseball is in his blood, and it’s been passed down multiple generations. Matthew, when he comes over, always wants to hit and catch.

“I can’t keep up anymore. I’ve got to hide!” Michael Williams, wearing a Tigers cap, said with a hearty laugh.

“Baseball is his passion.”

Matthew also plays flag football and soccer, and he also played basketball a while back.

“Hands down,” Matthew’s father said, when asked if baseball is his boy’s No. 1 sport.

“Everything else is just recreation.”

tpaul@detroitnews.com

@tonypaul1984

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