St. Louis Native Clohisy Raking for Hoots
Patrick Clohisy stepped to the plate for the second time in the seventh inning with the Hoots winning by eight runs on Wednesday. He stood at the plate representing the winning run. The reigning Slugger of the Week in the Prospect League did what he does best, clubbing a home run into the bullpen for a 14-4 win over division-foe Cape.
“Right before that at-bat, my teammates told me to hit a home run to send us home,” recalled Clohisy. “It was definitely in the back of my head.”
Clohisy has clobbered six home runs in total this season to lead the Hoots. He also currently leads the club in average (.443), on-base percentage (.514), slugging percentage (.885), hits (27), doubles (nine) and RBI’s (18). On a team that is one of the best offensive teams in the Prospect League this season, Clohisy is the one doing the most damage. When asked about his blistering start, he gave credit to his time in college baseball.
“Over the last two years [in college baseball] I’ve kind of learned what I do well and I don’t do well,” said Clohisy. “That’s kind of what I’ve stuck to so far this summer.”
Clohisy does a lot of things well, so when asked for specifics he mentioned his ability to hit the ball to all fields with power.
“One of the things I’ve really worked on is going to the opposite field the past two years,” said Clohisy. “I’ve really developed that and now it’s one of my strengths.”
Clohisy’s ability to go to all fields makes it difficult on defenses to defend him. Many times a left-handed batter will see drastic pull shifts, but a defense leaves itself open to a double the other way if they shift against Clohisy. He also said it helps his confidence, knowing that it’s hard for a pitcher to beat him.
Pitchers this season certainly have had a tough time beating him this season. Clohisy says it’s been special this season to come and play for the Hoots. Playing everyday this summer was important to him, but so has been returning to the St. Louis area. After two seasons with the Purdue Boilermakers, Clohisy recently announced his decision to transfer to St. Louis University.
“St. Louis, out of high school, was somewhere where I was interested,” said Clohisy. “Being close to home with my parents to come see me play and my family come see me play was something that really intrigued me. I couldn’t be more excited to be coming back home and playing.”
A current Hoots teammate in Colin Bergmann will be a future teammate at SLU. The two have gotten close and Clohisy says he’s excited to continue to play with Bergmann.
“He’s a great teammate and a great guy,” said Clohisy of Bergmann. “I’m really excited to continue to play with him.”
The Billikens certainty have some sluggers coming their way. When it comes to the rest of the Hoots season, Clohisy and the team will again look to catch the Alton River Dragons atop the Prairie Land Division. The Hoots recently lost a nine-game winning streak, but Clohisy is confident the team can get back to its winning ways.
The key? Offense.
“Our offense during that time [the winning streak] was clicking on all cylinders,” said Clohisy. “We were getting 10 hits a game at least … We have to continue to do that and continue to do the right things and I can see us winning the first half and moving on.”