ZELIENOPLE - His father strikes him out twice every game, but Auston Kolarich doesn't care.

A baseball might scoot past him at second base - Auston Kolarich smiles about it.

This 7-year-old Zelienople Pee Wee League baseball player always is smiling.

"Auston just loves to play baseball," said Bob Kolarich, his father and coach. "He's happy to be on the field."

He's happy to be anywhere because Auston Kolarich already has won the biggest game he'll ever face in his life. He is thriving after a heart transplant he received less than three years ago.

Auston was born with arterial problems, but heart surgery corrected them two months later.

"He still had a heart murmur, but plenty of babies have those and his wasn't getting any worse," said his mother, Cindie Kolarich. "We thought he was healed."

The second of three Kolarich sons, Auston followed in the footsteps of older brother Juston and began playing T-ball at age 4.

But his energy level quickly fell off.

"He couldn't even run to first base," his father said. "At first, we thought it was because of the heat. But then he wouldn't eat anything for a few days."

Kolarich was taken to Children's Hospital, where it was discovered that he had a hole in his heart. A specialist flew in from Chicago to examine him.

The options were spelled out to the Kolarich family: A heart transplant or surgery aimed at closing the hole in their son's heart.

"There was no perfect decision at that time," Bob Kolarich said. "We were advised by doctors earlier that it's good to keep one's own organs as long as possible, so we tried to close the hole."

A catherization did so, but, two months later, Auston's fate was apparent.

He needed a transplant.

"He got sick again and there was no doubt he needed a new heart," Bob Kolarich said. "But that two-month window probably saved his life.

"The time relieved the hypertension and pressure in his lungs, so he didn't need a lung transplant. And his heart had time to relax."

But Auston's condition worsened. He was hospitalized at the end of October 2002, and on Nov. 10 - his father's birthday - Auston suffered a stroke that temporarily paralyzed his right side.

He became No. 1 on the nation's heart transplant waiting list.

"He needed a new heart - now," his mother said. "It's sad to say this, but with the Thanksgiving holiday coming up, we were encouraged because doctors told us that transplant organs become most available around holidays.

"Sure enough, at 4:30 a.m. Nov. 26, two days after Thanksgiving, the hospital called and said two hearts were available for Auston."

The surgery was performed - and a miraculous recovery followed.

Within 24 hours after the surgery, Auston had his breathing tube removed. He was up and walking shortly thereafter and was home in time for his birthday, Dec. 21.

Off and on, Auston spent six months in the hospital before returning home after the transplant.

"I missed my family the most," Auston said of the extended hospital time.

And he missed playing baseball. He wondered if he'd be able to play again.

"I thought about it a little bit," he said.

"Doctors and nurses have told us they've never seen such a quick recovery from a heart transplant," Bob Kolarich said. "It's a strange comparison, but it's like when a fuel filter is all clogged up in a car and it's not running right. Change the filter and the car's fine.

"That's the way it worked for Auston. It was unbelievable."

During the Kolarich family's ordeal, community members served them dinners. Carrie Greathouse, Cindie Kolarich's sister, watched their other children while Auston's parents were at the hospital.

"The support of community, family and friends was overwhelming," Cindie Kolarich said.

Auston was playing T-ball again that spring. Pee Wee ball is coach-pitch, and with his father serving as his team's coach, Auston faces him every game.

"He strikes me out, but I get at least one hit every game, too," Auston said, a wide grin coming over his face.

That's because he plays with heart - and a good one at that.

"He's the poster child for heart transplants," his mother said.

"We were lucky in the sense that there was a family, a person, somewhere, who was an organ donor … who was there for Auston," his father said. "We're organ donors, too.

"If the roles were reversed, we'd have been there for them."