Honoring the Class of 2020: Jarrett Patman

Joining in the middle can be a difficult thing to do. 

Jarrett Patman came into the Eastern Baseball program halfway through his college career. The left-handed reliever from Leavittown, Pa. pitched in five games for the Eagles through the 2019 season and the first few weeks of 2020. His impact is bigger than his stats.

He stepped into the program and committed to getting better and being a positive part of a team culture. The growth in the program was evident in tangible results on the field. The Eagles were playing with confidence and winning games when the season shut down in March. The growth was also seen in things off the field. Eastern Baseball turned up for the Men's Basketball MAC Playoff game. It is easy to see why the Baseball program is looking at a great group of recruits for 2020-21.

This mentality did not come from a lack of competitiveness, but rather from an understanding that team success is most important. 

"Jarrett came to Eastern as a junior and fit in with the team immediately, " Head Coach Scott Renauro said. "He had a bulldog mentality on the mound but a team focus off of it."

In his only appearance of 2020, Patman came into the game in the middle of a situation as well. The Eagles were down at Stockton and the bases were loaded with two outs in the fourth. He came on to get the first batter to pop out and pitched two more innings to keep the team in the game. While the outing does not go down as a win, a save, or even a hold, it it was an example of a player coming into the game and doing his job to help his team. 

Every team needs guys who will do that. 

Patman made the MAC Academic Honor Roll in his only full season at Eastern. He is a Marketing Major.

Jarrett Responds:

Some of my favorite memories were in Myrtle Beach, being able to bond with my teammates

I am going to miss competing every single day. Going out there and just enjoying every single aspect of the game and helping my teammates.

I learned from several teammates. Matt Poma helped me regain the fire for the game, the fun part of it. We enjoyed preparing, and enjoying the results. We were only just getting started. When I first transferred, I really was unsure of Liam and his vibe toward me. Over my time here, we have become great friends and I have the utmost respect for him and how he approaches the game. He is always calm, cool, and collected. He focuses on the task at hand, and works really hard at what he does.

College athletics has taught me everything. It has taught me the importance of preparation and dedication to what you want to accomplish. It taught me that easy is never the goal. However, the goal is to overcome what may be challenging in order to reap the benefits in the end. The key is to always believe in yourself and the work you put in.

I want to thank all of my family, the ones who have always believed in myself even when I didn’t. All of my coaches who have invested time in me, and showed me the care it takes to be a committed coach. I also want to thank all of my teammates who have made this ride all the more enjoyable.

With the National Emergency caused by the impending spread of the novel coronavirus, the NCAA canceled Winter and Spring Championships and Governor Wolf moved instruction online and ordered colleges to send students home. 

As a result of this crisis, student-athletes competing in spring sports had their seasons cut short and teams were unable to honor their senior student-athletes in a traditional way. Without diminishing the seriousness of the crisis, we would like to honor our senior student-athletes over the next 50 days or so. The NCAA has granted all spring athletes an extra season of eligibility, so some members of the class of 2020 may compete in 2021. Regardless, we will want to honor the seniors with their class. 

We encourage everyone to stay safe, encourage each other, and to listen to the guidelines put forth by the CDC.