With 17 freshmen on the 2011 Long Beach State Dirtbags’ roster, Ino Patron should not feel alone, but his statistics with nearly three-fourths of the regular season completed suggest that the stocky first baseman is a head above the rest.
Patron currently leads the Dirtbags in three major offensive categories, including batting average (.321), home runs (3) and on base percentage (.403), and ranks second on the team with 45 hits and 20 RBIs.
But statistics aren’t the only factors that define his value to the team. His demeanor on the field has brought back memories of the hard-nosed style of play that earned the Dirtbags their name.
“I think he epitomizes what we’re trying to do and what this program was built on,” LBSU head coach Troy Buckley. “He plays hard and he’s really competitive.”
As of late, the 5-foot-11, 200-pound freshman slugger has been penciled in to bat third in Buckley’s lineup, a spot that is traditionally reserved for the best all-around hitter on the team in terms of power and consistency.
Before the season, Patron was also in a position battle with fellow freshman Jeff Yamaguchi for the starting job at first base, which has ironically brought the two players closer.
“I like a good challenge so if you want to be the best you have to compete against the best,” Patron said. “We grew really tight because of [the competition] and now we cheer each other on. Same thing when I was younger, I was always playing with older players so I’ve always been battling.”
Although Patron leads the Dirtbags in nearly every major offensive category, he was lightly recruited out of Granada High School in Livermore, Calif.
“If I [didn’t come here to play] I would have gone to a junior college,” Patron said. “This has been the school I’ve wanted to come since I was little. The second I got the call, I wanted to come [to Long Beach].”
Buckley is being rewarded for taking a chance on the undersized Patron. It would be safe to assume that many other Division 1 college baseball programs overlooked Patron because of his size. He is generously listed at 5-foot-11, but in reality, he’s about 5-foot-9.
“He may not always look the part, but he’s definitely someone you want to [play] with,” Buckley said.
Traditionally, first basemen are well above the 6 feet tall, but Patron breaks that trend. Junior Brent Tani and senior Matt Hibbert are the only two players on the LBSU roster who are listed shorter than Patron.
Despite his size, Patron doesn’t back down from anyone. Prior to the start of the season, Buckley had the team play an inter-squad scrimmage to get a feel for the new talent on the team.
In Patron’s first at-bat against LBSU’s No. 1-tabbed starter and MLB draft prospect Andrew Gagnon, he hit a fastball deep to center field. Unfortunately, while the hit would’ve probably been a home run in just about every other college ballpark, Blair Field’s center field stretches to a distance of 400 feet. Nonetheless, it was a moment in time that showcased Patron’s physical strength and fearlessness against well-known talent.
As productive as Patron has been for the Dirtbags (8-7 Big West Conference), they still sit in fourth-place in the conference standings — three games behind conference leader No. 12-ranked Cal State Fullerton (11-4 Big West).
But with 15 games down and nine more to go in Big West play, the Dirtbags still have an opportunity to shake up the Big West standings and contend for the conference title, a long ways from their last-place finish last season.
It’s no coincidence the emerging young pool of new talent on LBSU’s roster has played an instrumental part in that.
But hey, looks can be deceiving. The Dirtbags may not always look the part, but they’ve proved over and over again that they can play it — just ask Patron.
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