Alumni Spotlight: Korey Patterson ’18
Korey Patterson donning his then BP colors as catcher.
When Korey Patterson walked the halls of BPHS, you would most likely see him in the black and orange of the Black Hawks that he donned while wrestling on the mats and catching balls on the diamond.
He has since traded those colors in for the blue and yellow of the Kent State Golden Flashes.
Just finishing up his sophomore year in Kent, Ohio, the architecture major has kept Bethel Park close to his heart.
“Bethel has always felt like home, the people of the community and the experiences I’ve had I’ll never forget,” said the son of Bill and Kris.
During his years at BP, Patterson was a two-sport athlete– pinning his opponents on the mat and gunning runners down at the bases.
Since graduating, that has changed. Well kind of.
For four years of high school baseball, you would find “KP” at shortstop, second base, third, outfield, and even behind the plate where he held the starting role during his senior campaign where the Hawks captured their second of back-to-back conference titles.
Patterson has found his role on the diamond at Kent State, but in a different position– on the hill.
He decided to try out for a walk-on position for the five-time MAC champion Golden Flashes.
Coach Jeff Duncan saw something in Patterson and gave him a spot on the roster.
“I was sitting in my living room going over the club team tryout results, and got a call with the Kent area code, and it was the pitching coach for the varsity team on the other end. I started shivering. So I drove over and went up to their office. It was a big relief. I was proud of myself knowing the time I put in– I was walking on air,” Patterson said.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the cancellation of NCAA spring sports, the Golden Flashes won’t take the field in 2020.
“It sucks, a completely different feeling than I’ve ever felt. I feel like it’s still the fall,” Patterson said.
Will the next time you hear about Korey Patterson be in the World Series in 2028, or will it be in an interview after building a super cool, completely vaccinated building?
We shall see, but whatever it is, don’t doubt Korey Patterson– he’s proven too many people wrong already.
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