Ohlone star Patterson has big game but humble approach and Renegades are rolling

By Mike Wood
Special to Ohlone Athletics

FREMONT - Zach Patterson is the latest rising megastar on the standout Renegades baseball team. But the cleanup hitter with the .410 batting average is staying humble. And that might be the best news for Renegades head coach Mike Curran and his staff.

"He has got a great heart," Curran said. "Whenever you have a guy putting up massive numbers, the concern becomes if the guy is going to become bigger than the team. That is not at all the case. He has a great attitude."

You'll see great things when looking at Patterson's stats. Along with the team's top batting average, Patterson also leads in home runs with 10, RBIs with 43 and slugging percentage at .734. The outfielder/pitcher, who played first base at Granada High in Livermore, is single-minded in pointing to his success this spring.

"I feel like our coaches have helped a lot; they run a really good program," Patterson said. "We are all here with same goal, everyone strives to play really hard."

Patterson is among a long list of contributors behind Ohlone's remarkable spring. The Renegades just wrapped up a third consecutive Coast Pacific Conference title with a 19-0 thumping of Skyline on April 20, with their sights now squarely on another deep run in the postseason. 

At 30-7 overall and 13-2 in conference with one final three-game series against Monterey Peninsula, there's reason they will go deep again.

Curran had recruited Patterson out of high school, but he opted to go to play at Utah. Now he's on track again for the next level.

"He went out and redshirted, and now he is back here," Curran said. "We put him into the 4-spot, and with his tremendous bat speed, he fit into that power bat role really well." 

Curran compared Patterson and his immense talent and strong attitude to recent Ohlone heavy hitters like Ryan Ruley (Loyola Marymount) and AJ Curtis (Cal State Fullerton).

"Like those guys, Zach has never become bigger than the team," Curran said. "To use that cliche, he never big-leagues anyone."

Patterson is just one name of a formidable list of contributors.

Outfielder Justin Clark (.386, 36 RBIs, team-leading 19 doubles) bats leadoff. Curran calls the sophomore "the best pure hitter on the team."

Sophomore outfielder Brett Tressen (.378), who came over from Saint Mary's College, "has more power than anyone on the team. He has that ability to hit the ball 450 feet at any time," Curran said.

Infielder Dalton Vanhille (.354), is a sophomore battler at the plate who is hitting his stride.

"He was at San Lorenzo High and was the player of year in that league, but when he came to us, he wasn't ready," Curran said. "He redshirted, and now he has started 28 games over the last two years."

First baseman Michael Gallagher (.321), a sophomore, is the No. 5 hitter. "He has the purest swing, a really short compact left-handed swing and just drives pitches over,” Curran says.

Ohlone has no shortage of hitters. But pitching also matters, and the Renegades are deep, deep, deep, with four pitchers each with at least six wins

The Renegades had an amazing March, going undefeated for the month. They won 15 in a row, beginning with a 7-3 win over College of San Mateo on Feb. 28 and through an 8-1 April 4 victory over Cabrillo. The streak couldn't last forever, and Ohlone lost two of its next three, including close defeats to Cabrillo, 3-2, and Canada, 6-4. They faced challenges, from tough opposing pitching to even a bus driver being late to get them.

But a rally on April 11 to beat Canada 8-6 seemed to have vaulted Ohlone back into the groove. Trailing 6-4 in the bottom of the eighth, Tressen hit a two-run home run and Patterson and Bradley Norton tripled.

That rally was a reminder of Ohlone's offensive firepower.

As for that pitching staff, it’s impressive statistically and visually.

Sophomore Peter Van Loon (7-2, 2.20 ERA, 72 strikeouts in 57.1 innings) out of California High-San Ramon is about ready to return from a lat injury, Curran said. "He is everything as advertised. He really put on a lot of velocity and has gone from 84 (mph) to 92."

Ryan Robinson (6-1, 2.16) has grown as a pitcher his freshman year. "He went through the typical ups and downs you would have expected from a freshman, but has come into his own," Curran said.

No. 3 starter Andrew Amato (8-1, 2.72) benefits from a ton of experience. Said Curran: "He's been to the big games, has pitched in the Super Regionals and the Regionals."

Freshman Tyler Stultz (7-1, 2.84) is among those to step in while Van Loon was out. "When he puts the ball in the right spot, he is very, very effective and he has been doing that a lot."

So it's just about playoff time. Ohlone, winner of the state championship in 2010, has been a familiar spot recently. That includes reaching the Super Regionals in 2015, the state Final Four in 2017 and the Northern Sectionals in 2018, when they were one win away from again going to the state Final Four.

"Honestly, our goals with our club every year, 1 is to be become a team, find a way to develop a positive culture; and 2, is to win conference," Curran said. "Once you get that thing done, then you can get greedy and talk about what you want to do in the postseason. We make sure we don't get ahead of ourselves."

And now, it's full steam ahead.

"Honestly, I think we can go all the way to state; we have the talent on the mound and the hitters to do that," Patterson said.