By Chris Fuller
Kentucky Scouting Director

You might expect a team that lost eight players from last year’s 33-4 squad to be in rebuilding mode, but senior Chase Patton has helped squash that notion for the 15-5 Bullitt East Chargers.

Patton, who will continue his education and baseball career at Spalding University, has been lights out on the mound for Bullitt East this spring.  In his most recent outing, a 3-0 district win over Fern Creek, Patton fired a complete game, one-hit shutout, racking up 14 strikeouts in the process.  The performance landed him as one of the finalists for this week’s Player of the Week honor.

For the season, Patton has been virtually unhittable.  His 4-0 record includes a five-inning no-hitter, and an additional complete game, one-hit effort other than the one he threw last week.  In 25 innings pitched, Patton has allowed just seven hits, three earned runs, and has racked up 36 strikeouts.

Head Coach Jeff Bowles says Patton brings more to the table than just his dominant mound performance.

“Chase does a lot of things that don’t show up in a box score,” Bowles said.  “He is a tremendous leader both on and off the field and is a big reason we are sitting at 15-5 this season.”

Patton, who also plays outfield and first base, was one of four players selected as a finalist for Player of the Week from the nominations we received.  We took to twitter to allow the fans to select the honor.  Voting ended at 8:00 PM last night, and here are the final results.

Chase Patton – LHP/OF/1B, Bullitt East HS, 2014 – 209 votes
Ben Morin – OF, Madison Central HS, 2015 – 139 votes
Luke Rouse – OF, Tates Creek HS, 2015 – 128 votes
Ean Barker, 3B/RHP, Central Hardin HS, 2016 – 79 votes

All four players had stellar performances for their respective teams last week, and the fans have spoken.

For his performance on the field, Chase Patton has been selected as this week’s Prep Baseball Report Kentucky Player of the Week.