By MATT KOPSEA

South Bend Tribune

 

You'll never hear Pat Borlik making excuses.

"When I'm out there pitching, I really can't put the blame on anyone else if something goes wrong," said the Washington High senior right-hander. "The way I feel, I am the guy in charge. The ball is in my hand, so if they hit it, it's on me. I've always been a competitor, so I guess that's just my competitive nature coming through."

This same philosophy held true as a quarterback where the 6-foot-3, 195-pound Borlik helped the Panthers' football team achieve an 8-3 mark by throwing for more than 1,300 yards and 11 touchdowns.

On the diamond, though, is where the four-year letterwinner feels most at home and where he'll play in college after recently signing a letter of intent to pitch at Western Michigan University this fall.

"Baseball has pretty much been my first love going back to when I was four or five years old," Borlik said after a recent game. "Just going out and playing catch with my dad, I knew it was something I wanted to do.

"The thing I love about baseball is the whole team atmosphere and having the chance to hang out and joke around with your teammates. I really believe it doesn't get any better than that."

While pitching is one of his top priorities (1-1, 2. 90 ERA 14 strikeouts in 9?254-240? innings), Borlik also has found time to work on his hitting stroke.

Through the first four games, Borlik is hitting .308 with two home runs and six RBIs.

"I work a lot on my own on mechanics and conditioning to improve my pitching, but (Washington coach John) Kehoe really helped me a lot with my hitting," said Borlik. "We had a lot of individual sessions where he worked with me on staying back at the plate, proper footwork, bat control, and other mechanical things. It's helped because I've definitely come a long way since my freshman year."

Having worked with him since junior high, Kehoe has seen Borlik make great strides.

"Pat has gotten better in some part of his game each year," Kehoe said. "He's always been able to throw the ball in the mid to upper 80s. The difference now is he has good command of his pitches. He's now able to mix them up and throw strike one on a consistent basis.

"His hitting has improved this season because he finally has figured out the proper mechanics. He's using the lower half of his body correctly, allowing him to stay back and drive the ball."

On the downside of Washington's last two sectional baseball losses (Penn in 2008 and Clay in 2009), Borlik is working hard to avoid a three-peat.

"I've always dreamed about playing college baseball, but that can wait until after this season," Borlik said. "I believe we've got some talent on this team to make some noise in the NIC (Northern Indiana Conference). That's why I'm going to try and do all I can to make that possible."

 

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