August 26: Patton Leads Fish to Second-Straight Win

It has, at times this season, been a struggle for Goldeyes centre fielder Cory Patton. He’s hit the ball hard. Trouble is, he’s spent four months hitting it hard right at people.

Heading into Tuesday night’s game at Canwest Park, Patton was hitting an un-Pattonlike .233. However, there was something strangely sensational about this quiet Texan’s contribution to the Goldeyes.

After all, his fielding has been solid and sometimes outright spectacular. And heading into Tuesday action, his on-base percentage was .355, more than 120 points higher than his batting average (he leads the team with 61 walks).

According to manager Rick Forney, he was patient at the plate, a good baserunner and, as a result, an almost perfect lead-off man.

So on Tuesday, with the bottom of the order – Brent Metheny, Cody Ehlers and Mark Minicozzi – hitting rockets, Patton had one of his best games of the season. He went three-for-four and drove in six runs as the Goldeyes whipped Joliet 12-7.

“Leading off is something I’d never done, but Rick came to me with the idea and I was ready to give it a try,” said Patton, Shaw TV’s player of the game. “I’m really enjoying the lead-off spot. It lets me get right into the action, get dialed in early and really contribute to the team in a number of ways.”

Patton was able to drive in those six runs because the bottom of the order was sensational. Metheny went four-for-four and scored four times, Ehlers went three-for-four with a walk and also scored four runs and Minicozzi went three-for-four with two runs scored. In the end, the bottom three hitters in the order had 10 of the Goldeyes 18 hits and scored 10 of the team’s 12 runs.

“It’s great to come up with men on base,” said Patton. “I’ve been feeling that I’ve been hitting the ball hard, they just haven’t been falling.”

With the win, the Goldeyes recorded their 52nd victory of the season, one more than last year, and pulled to within a game-and-a-half of first-place Gary.

“This is the week we’ve been waiting for all year,” Patton said. “This is the week to get everything together and be on a roll heading in to the playoffs.”

With a few more wins – and a few more great games from the lead-off man – this Goldeyes team could get back into first place before all is said and done.

They’ll take the next step toward the top with the final game of this three-game series with Joliet tonight at 7:00 at Canwest Park.