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Hebron Product Chad Patrick Joins Oilmen Pitching Staff

05/23/2018 12:04 PM -

Whiting, Ind. – May 23, 2018 – Pitching in Northwest Indiana is nothing new for right-hander Chad Patrick.

The college freshman was a multi-letter winner at Hebron during his high school days, then he stayed in the area to begin his college career at Purdue Northwest this year. The natural fit for Patrick’s summer season is the Region’s team, as he is poised to compete for the Oilmen this summer.

“It’s close to home and I had asked my coach what would be the best fit for me, and he said the Oilmen,” Patrick said. “I heard from one of my teammates, Jimmy Skiff, that it’s a good time and a good league to get involved with. He had a great time when he played there. I’m expecting to play hard every day that I get to go out there and pitch.”

Patrick made 11 appearances and six starts for the Pride this spring, garnering three wins and one save over 32 innings while racking up 39 strikeouts.

“The transition to college baseball has been challenging and has had its ups and downs,” Patrick said. “Coming from a smaller school, you have a lot of success in high school and then get to the college level and it’s a little different at first. You can’t blow anything by them. You’ve got to pitch more than throw. It’s been a good adjustment for me. I had some failures, but was able to overcome that a little bit late in the season.”

Patrick plans to carry his late-season success over to the summer, where he will look to continue to hit spots instead of simply throwing and find ways to miss barrels. Another aspect of joining Purdue Northwest was being a part of a program that is fresh off transitioning from NAIA to Division II.

“It’s been a lot of fun; there’s a lot of good competition in the GLIAC,” he said. “It’s always a little difficult at first when you make a jump like that, but there’s some success that’s going to happen here in the next few seasons.”

Patrick was a standout at Hebron, where he helped the team to a Porter County Conference championship and a regional title his senior season. He was an all-conference, all-area and all-state honoree as the Hawks tied the most wins in school history. He becomes the first Hebron graduate to play for the Oilmen.

“One of my favorite memories is pitching in the regional last year,” Patrick said. “It was pretty difficult against Eastside from Fort Wayne. They were a good team. If we didn’t beat them, would wouldn’t have made it to semistate. Pitching that game and beating them was one of the best memories of my high school career.”

Patrick threw 110 pitches over seven innings in a 4-3 eight-inning victory over Eastside. He matched the Hebron record with 25 career victories and had a sub-1.00 ERA as a senior.

Patrick went 10-1 as a senior at Hebron, with his only defeat coming in the Class 2A Kokomo Semistate against Waphani. The Hawks finished the season at 29-4. As a junior, Patrick also pitched Hebron to a 4-3 victory over Bremen in a regional final that took place at Oil City Stadium. That was Hebron’s first regional crown since 2012.

Away from the diamond, Patrick enjoys fishing, golfing and spending time with his family. He is a sports management major at PNW.