Area Players Hecht, Patton Competing

Ben Hecht, an Effingham St. Anthony High School graduate, is a member of the South Bend Cubs in the Class A Midwest Baseball League.

The 23-year-old was drafted by the New York Mets in the 341st round of the 2013 MLB Amateur Draft but did not sign. He played at Illinois State in 2014, redshirted in 2015 before playing a season at Lincoln Land in 2016. He then transferred to Wichita State

He was drafted again, this time by the Chicago Cubs during 2017, in the 12th round. He is a right-handed pitcher.

He played in 2017 for the Arizona League where he went 2.1 innings, allowing two hits, three earned runs, three walks and struck out five.

He then went to Eugene where he pitched 17.2 innings, allowing 12 hits, seven runs, three of those earned, walking 10 and striking out 25.

This year for the South Bend Cubs he has pitched two innings, allowing two hits, two walks and striking out four.

Spencer Patton, a South Central graduate, attended Parkland College in Champaign then transferred to Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. He went to Forest City, North Carolina in the Coastal Plain League in 2009.

During his Major League career he was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in 2011, traded to the Texas Rangers in 2014 and made his major league debut September 4, 2014 for the Chicago Cubs.

Patton made 16 relief appearances for the Cubs and finished 1-1 with a 5.48 ERA. Patton was on the 40-man roster at the time the Cubs won the World Series.

He signed with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of the Nippon Professional Baseball League in Japan.

The 30-year-old has been competing for the BayStars the past two years. Last season he had a 4-3 pitching record, finished 13 games and had seven saves. He had a 2.70 ERA. The BayStars finished third in their league with a 73-65-5 record.

The manager for the BayStars is Alex Ramirez.

In the bullpen is Patton and closer Yasuaki Yamasaki, both good players. This year, Patton has thrown in one inning and had one strikeout.