WASHINGTON (Map, News) - As a professional athlete you face pressure situations a lot. Sometimes you come through and other times you don’t. But by the time you reach the major leagues you pretty much know how well you cope.

I learned how to do that for the first time during high school when I played at Kellam High in Virginia Beach — one of the best baseball areas in the country with guys like David Wright (New York Mets), B.J. Upton (Tampa Bay) and Justin Upton (Arizona) reaching the majors from there.

The Virginia High School League baseball playoffs start all across the state next week, including locally in Northern Virginia. District and region tournaments are followed by the Group AAA state tournament in early June.

It’s exciting when you’re a young kid and have the chance to play in important games like that. If you keep winning you eventually get to travel and stay in a hotel with your teammates. It’s just a lot of fun.

But you can get caught up in the moment, too. That nervousness takes over. As I was put in those situations during high school I gradually got better at dealing with them. Our team at Kellam won the Eastern Region championship when I was a senior in 2002 and made it to the state semifinals. We lost to J.R. Tucker, 4-2, a tough way to end the season and my career. But those are memories I’ll cherish for the rest of my life.

The lessons I took from those high school experiences helped me in the three years I played at the University of Virginia and then again in pro ball. That pressure is never easy to deal with. But at least when the game is on the line you can relax a little bit at the plate knowing that you’ve come through before.

As told to The Examiner’s Brian McNally.

Nats third baseman Ryan Zimmerman is one of baseball’s rising stars and, at 23, the face of the franchise. Now he’ll share his thoughts with The Examiner’s readers each week throughout the baseball season.