Atwater’s Patterson navigates through control issues in win

Brody Patterson is just starting to rediscover his groove on the mound.

With a lot of moving parts in the Atwater senior’s 6-foot-7 frame, it isn’t tough to lose his release point. And after taking a couple seasons off to focus on water polo, Patterson is just starting to find his form.

Patterson’s command still escaped him at times during Wednesday night’s 56th annual Fran Oneto/Atwater-Winton Lions Easter Tournament game against Pacheco, but he settled for effectively wild. The right-hander danced his way out of as many jams as his seven walks and one hit batter created in an 8-4 victory over the Panthers.

With the win, the Falcons (8-7) will play in the third-place game against San Leandro today at 4 p.m. Pacheco will take on crosstown rival Los Banos in the 1 p.m. tilt.

“I couldn’t find the strike zone at all to begin the season, so I really feel like this was progress,” Patterson said. “I felt like I was pretty good when I was in the strike zone. When I did get in trouble, I just really visualized throwing balls in the strike zone and was able to get out of it.

“I just need to do a better job of concentrating for the whole game.”

The Falcons took some pressure off Patterson by getting him an early lead. Playing the rare road game at Memorial Ballpark, Atwater opened the scoring in the top of the first with a Wyatt Pimentel double and a Derek Molina run-scoring single.

Atwater expanded the lead to 3-0 in the fifth inning when Robert Rodriguez and Austin Conour delivered back-to-back doubles. Pimentel then plated Conour with an RBI groundout.

Pacheco (4-12) certainly had chances to answer, getting runners on base and in scoring position in each of the first five innings.

A leadoff double by Ricky Lopez to open the game was the only hit the Panthers could muster against Patterson during that span, however. Pacheco opened the game 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position and left 11 on base in the game.

Atwater seemingly broke the game open in the top of the sixth inning when a couple walks and a bunt single loaded the bases with no outs. Rodriguez (2 for 3) delivered a run-scoring single that plated two when an errant throw brought a second runner in to make it 5-0. Pimentel drew a bases-loaded walk to plate a third run and Molina brought in another while bouncing into a double play.

Pacheco answered immediately, getting to Patterson finally in the sixth thanks to a defensive miscue.

Ruben Rocha got the Panthers on the board with an RBI single, but the damage should have ended there. A two-out Julian Saldana pop up to shallow left field was allowed to fall untouched and score two more runs. Tristan Trevino would tack on a fourth with a single.

Pacheco used three one-out walks to get the tying run to the plate in the seventh, but left them loaded to end it.

This story was originally published April 8, 2015 at 11:13 PM with the headline "Atwater’s Patterson navigates through control issues in win."