The Grind, presented by Bank of Clarendon: Wilson Hall's Van Patten looks to lead Barons to championships with stellar senior teammates

Wilson Hall's Blake Van Patten is part of two pretty integral families for Baron athletics.

One is his literal family. His older brother, Parker, and cousins Landon and Graham were all standouts at Wilson Hall before Blake made the jump to varsity. Now he shares a field with his cousin, Miles. Another cousin, Mary Beth, is also a multi-sport star for the Barons in softball and basketball.

"We've always had a Van Patten around here," Wilson Hall head football coach Adam Jarecki said. "We love our Van Pattens."

Blake's other family isn't as literal, but they're certainly just as close. There's a group of senior classmates, which includes Miles, Dylan Jones, Clark Kinney, Grayson Alexander and Landon Gilley. This class has been the group Wilson Hall has hoped would lead the Barons to the promised land both on the gridiron and the diamond.

Now Blake is trying to live up to the expectations that come with both families, and he's having a ton of fun along the way.

"Now that we're seniors, our goal has kind of been, obviously, to go all the way," Blake said. "We've been wanting to win a baseball championship; we've been close twice. We want to win one of those and a football championship both in the same year for our senior year; that would be pretty cool."

FAMILY DRIVEN

Van Pattens have been local athletic standouts since before Blake's older brother and cousins. Russ Van Patten, Blake's dad, and his brother David were standouts at Thomas Sumter. Both played football, but that was David's specialty. He went on to play collegiately at Liberty. Russ shined in track, where his name still stands in the TSA record books. Blake's mom, Naomi, was a strong athlete in her own right, playing both basketball and volleyball.

Since then, the Van Pattens have almost exclusively suited up for the Barons. Last season, Miles transferred to Thomas Sumter, but he's back at Wilson Hall for his final season.

But they also compete against each other. With a family full of athletes, Blake had no choice but to get better at every sport he tried.

"They're always pushing me. We'll be in the backyard, just throwing," Blake said. "My dad, and he's done everything with me. Always got me out in the front yard when I was a kid, 'Hey, let's throw some, let's throw the baseball, let's throw the football, just do whatever.' Just to keep me involved, keep me going.

"It helped me get better; it helped me not be soft. It got me out there, got me experience."

Growing up, the Van Pattens would all gather at David's house for Sunday lunch. Those afternoons have always been full of competitive sports. Blake was always raring to go, even if it came with some bumps and bruises.

"David one time was throwing the football on the Sunday afternoon and caught Blake in the mouth, and it busted his tooth out. We were just like, 'Oh goodness, good thing you're a dentist,'" Naomi said. "He took pride in, 'Ha, I took Blake's first tooth out but not in the dentist's chair.'"

Of course, Blake was raring to get back in on the action.

"He's always been very active, so it's kind of like having a Lab puppy. If you don't give him something constructive to do, he's going to do something destructive," Russ joked.

That competitive nature may lead to a squabble here or there, but those always stay on the field of play.

"One thing we feel really blessed about is they're all very competitive, but they never let it get in the way of their relationship," Naomi said. "They really encourage each other."

Blake didn't have much of a choice about playing sports. As a Van Patten, that was a given. But he also embraced athletics from a very early age.

"I just always had like a football, a baseball, a glove, something in my hands," Blake said. "When I was a little toddler, I used to like sleep with like a football or a glove in my hands. I wouldn't have like stuffed animals or anything, that's just like, what I slept with. So, it's always been around."

It was such a regular occurrence that Russ would sometimes play a joke on his middle child.

"(Russ) would give him a hard time sometimes, and after he fell asleep he'd slip it out and slip one of our daughter's dolls under his arm and take a picture," Naomi said, laughing. "He'd get so mad when he woke up."

As the years passed, Van Pattens started suiting up for the Barons on Friday nights. Landon came first, followed by Parker and Graham. Blake always had a front-row seat.

"I'd sit in the back of the end zone and play football with the other kids," Blake said. "I never imagined myself out there. I just saw them as being older, but I always loved watching them. It just got my adrenaline rushing.

"Now I'm them. I'm what the younger kids, I guess, look up to now."

SUITING UP

Blake didn't have to wait long to get his first taste of varsity action. He played JV as a freshman but got called up for the last few games of the season. By the time he was a sophomore, he was a regular contributor. With a last name like Van Patten, he felt some pressure to succeed immediately. Graham and Parker had just graduated, and Blake wanted to fill their shoes.

"I kind of felt pressured. I've got to be the same (as the other Van Pattens). But, at the same time, I had so much encouragement from my family, my coaches, my friends," Blake said. "They help me so much, so it relieved some of the pressure just knowing that they're behind me, supporting me."

Blake was also rising through the ranks with an impressive class of athletes. While there were some star individuals making an early impact, what made Blake's class impressive was the sheer volume of strong athletes. They all quickly pushed their way into the starting lineup.

"Since middle school we were looking forward to it. We knew we were the class," Blake said. "We have an athletic group of kids. Even with the now juniors and sophomores, this group, we knew moving up, we can do a lot. We're a huge group of kids that all were involved in sports and all really tight knit. We're all great friends."

Blake also learned pretty quickly that he would be thrust into a leadership role sooner rather than later. He made sure to learn from the seniors that came before him.

"We had to realize that we've got to step up and be leaders," Blake said. "We've got several very good leaders in our grade. In our sophomore and junior year, we had Tate (Sistare), Doc (Walker) and all of them, who were great leaders. They all mentored us into realizing that we would be that leader one day, which is here now."

TIGHT BONDS

The current group of seniors has played sports together basically their entire lives. They played little league baseball with Dylan's dad, Jay Jones, serving as the head coach. Now he's helming the varsity squad with the Barons. As they continued to play different sports together, the group continued to bond. It's also helped them improve together.

"That's really helped having a tight-knit group pushing each other. You feel comfortable around each other," Blake said. "You don't have to feel awkward or like just like a loner."

That competitive nature to the Van Patten family games carries over to this senior class, as well.

"We get competitive, we get mad at each other, but at the end of the day, we're friends," Blake said. "It helps push us to the next level."

Russ has loved watching the group grow closer with each passing year.

"They've spent hours together, sometimes summers together, doing baseball. They almost lived together at points during their life," Russ said. "They're so tight and they're competitive as well, but in the same kind of way, it's sort of iron sharpening iron. It's not mean-spirited or anything; it's more about that they enjoy competing."

Those tight bonds have led to the current senior class growing as leaders.

"That's kinda the joy of having a big group come through together. They've had the ups and downs together and kinda know each other," Jarecki said. "I'm tickled about the leadership coming out of this group of people with people like Slade Custer, Grayson Alexander, Sam Tristan, those are not necessarily the guys that are scoring touchdowns, but they have a tremendous impact.

"It's the whole group, combining with the younger groups coming up. With those three classes, it's the best group of athletes numbers-wise that we've had in a long time."

Blake and Dylan have especially grown close through the years. They share a common bond of having a name that's well known in town for athletics.

Dylan's grandfather, Wallie Jones, coached the Sumter P-15's for 25 years, leading the team to nine Southeast Regionals and two American Legion World Series appearances. While they didn't realize the legacies they followed at a young age, they've both felt that drive to live up to the name on the back of their jerseys.

"At the start, we didn't really realize that, but as we got older, we realize we had stuff to live up to, and we've got to get this stuff done and work hard with whatever we're doing," Dylan said. "Blake and I have always had a lot in common. He's always been there for me, and I feel like I've always been there for him. He's been my best friend throughout."

That group shares the field throughout the year, as most of them still play baseball together for the Barons. As they continue to play together, that bond grows deeper.

"Through wins and loses, we grow significantly," Dylan said. "We mourn the losses, and we celebrate the wins together. That brings the brotherhood tighter."

A FAMILY DIVIDED

When Miles transferred to Thomas Sumter last season, it led to a very difficult Friday night for the Van Patten family.

Wilson Hall hosted Thomas Sumter on Sept. 9, pitting Blake against Miles. Going into the game, Blake was conflicted.

"It was tough, but it was also kind of cool just to see the flip side of things," Blake said. "It gave me a little bit of a more competitive drive. He's my cousin; I've gotta beat him."

Russ was on the sideline with the chain crew, battling his own internal fight as a Thomas Sumter alumnus with family on both sides.

"One of the first few plays Miles picked off a ball and scored with it," Russ said. "Secretly, inside I'm cheering for Miles, but I don't want to be obvious."

Naomi didn't try as hard to hide her emotions.

"I had to stand up; you have to, that's your family," she said. "That was a hard night, though, because we're really close with David and Lisa. Our kids are like siblings more than cousins. We didn't sit together that night. I think we just knew, but as soon as the game was over, we met up, and the boys hugged each other."

Blake evened the playing field with his own interception returned for a score as Wilson Hall won the game 42-15. Luckily, that's the only time the Van Pattens will have to deal with that civil war, as Miles is back at Wilson Hall.

THE LONG BALL

Blake has plenty of strengths on the gridiron, but his most obvious is his speed.

The senior has a knack for getting around defensive backs and making huge catches down the field. It started during his sophomore season with Tate Sistare at quarterback, but the Barons were really able to lead into an explosive passing attack last season.

"Just having that breakaway speed gives us a threat," Coach Jarecki said. "The balance was pretty good last year when we had Boykin (Wilder) on one side, the tall, big target with Blake on the other side. It gave us the opportunity to do things differently. We didn't have to stay between the tackles; we could get outside and go a little bit."

Blake loves to hit the long ball. When the ball is in the air, he only has one thing on his mind.

"I just zone out on everything else. I just see the ball, I go for the ball," Blake said. "It's like a whole other game. I see the ball in the air, and I just have to go get it. It's almost like a dog and tennis ball."

Last season, Clark was the one throwing the passes as Blake racked up 570 receiving yards and 10 scores.

"Me and Clark have always had a strong bond, even outside of football; we've always been great friends," Blake said. "We've been looking forward to this. He reads me well, he knows how fast I am and knows exactly where to put it. We're a great team."

ONE LAST RIDE

Blake and his senior teammates have one goal this year: win.

After five straight losing seasons, Wilson Hall had a huge turnaround last year. They finished 7-4 and won their first playoff game. That means every other team will see the Barons a little differently this time around.

"I feel like it does put a target on our back," Blake said. "They're coming for us; they want to beat us up."

But last season also ended a little earlier than the Barons hoped. After beating John Paul II handily in the first round, Wilson Hall played Florence Christian in the SCISA 3A state semifinals. The Barons won their regular season matchup with FCS 21-20 but found themselves on the wrong end of another close game in the playoffs, falling 19-17.

"We were two points away from making it to the championship, which motivates us for this year," Blake said. "That's just in the back of my mind. I think about it all the time. We were two points away. It motivates me for this year."