LEWISBURG, W.Va. (WVDN) – Greenbrier East pitcher, junior Gabe Patton, has stepped up when called upon this season.
Earlier this year, he threw the first Spartan no-hitter in over a decade, when the Spartans took down their rival, the Princeton Tigers.
When not on the mound, Patton is usually on third base, where his defensive ability also stands out at a high level, and his hitting has improved as well.
According to Patton, arriving to the field early and going through pregame routines is key to any kind of success.
“My approach is you have to have good sleep the night before and need to have a good warm up. Get there two hours before you play and do bands and weighted balls, and before first pitch just thank God for being able to play baseball,” Patton said.
East faced Princeton in the Region 3, Section 2 opening round, and the Tigers were not happy to see Patton again on the hill. Advancing through to the regional tournament is a huge success for an East program that went 14-16 on the season, and there were several reasons for that happening.
“The key to advance through regional play was that we pitched and threw strikes; our defense was really good behind us and hitting took care of itself,” stated Patton.
Before hitting the baseball field each spring, the junior utility player spends time on the basketball court representing the Spartans, who now play a fun brand of basketball that pushes the ball up the floor and harasses opposing players on the defensive end. Patton believes that game helps him tremendously on the field.
“Playing basketball helps because I’m already in shape before I go to baseball, and I already have a mindset to be a leader,” Patton explained.
His head coach in basketball is someone he is vaguely familiar with and sees him a time or two through the weeks.
“I love having my dad as our coach because he really gets the game, and after every game and practice we get to talk of what we can do better the next day,” Patton said.
While not quite as close to his baseball coaches, Patton still gives them all the credit they deserve for helping him be the player he is today.
“The baseball coaches impacted my sports career a lot,” Patton said.
“It’s all about leadership and dedication. Without that you really can’t go far in life and I thank them for everything they have done so far,” he added.
The team’s leading pitcher hopes to have a chance to play college baseball — or basketball — one day and will use this coming offseason to showcase himself and put in more work in hopes of accomplishing that dream.
“What I need to focus on this off-season is having a schedule because I’m doing a lot of camps for baseball and basketball to get my name out to coaches. I’m really focusing on getting stronger at both sports because I believe that I can get a good scholarship for baseball or basketball if I really put the work in,” he concluded.
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