Patton senior pitcher Cohen Christian prepares to fire the ball to the plate during a road game against Freedom to open the 2026 season. Christian recently became the Panthers’ career leader in strikeouts, and for the season he is 6-0 with an 0.66 ERA and 80 strikeouts in eight starts spanning 53 1/3 innings.
The Patton baseball program has been around for nearly two full decades, and no pitcher in school history has struck out more batters than Cohen Christian.
Christian
The 6-foot-3 senior right-hander broke the Panthers’ career record for strikeouts, which was previously held by 2016 graduate Peyton Mull, during the first inning of an April 6 home game against Freedom in the opening round of the eighth annual Tony Causby Classic. Christian has since increased his career strikeout total to 250, and his 80 punchouts this year mean he needs just seven more to set a new Patton single-season record as well.
“It’s super special,” said Christian of becoming Patton’s new strikeout king. “I couldn’t do it without my coaches that have pushed me each and every day. It’s just an awesome feeling to know that you’re gonna be in that record book for a while. … I’m super thankful to be able to play baseball, and God has blessed me with the abilities that I have, so that’s definitely something I’m super proud of.”
“It’s been a good four years, specifically this year,” added Patton third-year head coach Matt Baker, who previously served as an assistant under Jonathan Browning for eight years. “… It’s almost like every night at the end you’re looking, and he’s got 10-plus strikeouts, and that’s a big relief for us. We catch the ball pretty well, but every time we don’t have to catch it it’s even better for us, so him striking kids out is a big help. He’s worked hard, and I’m glad to see him in the record books.”
Christian throws a fastball, slider, and changeup, and while he doesn’t necessarily model himself after any other pitcher, he does enjoy watching current major leaguer Chase Burns, who pitched collegiately at Tennessee and Wake Forest before being drafted second overall by the Cincinnati Reds in 2024.
“I like to really tunnel my slider off of my fastball,” said Christian, who also stated that he has been working on getting “a little more action” on his changeup. But one of the things that has really stood out this spring is his command, as he has only walked eight batters in 53 1/3 innings while posting a 6-0 record and an 0.66 ERA in eight starts.
Additionally, Christian has only hit one batter all season, and he has tossed five complete games including a pair of complete-game shutouts. He has also yet to pitch less than 5 2/3 innings or allow more than one earned run in any contest while striking out at least nine batters in all but one start and recording double-digit punchouts on six occasions.
“A lot of it is my defense behind me,” said Christian. “They’re the ones that are helping me keep my pitch count down. … I think the strikeouts are impressive, but I really like that I’m not walking a lot of batters, making people put it in play, and making them earn it and not just giving them a walk or a hit-by-pitch.”
An all-conference and all-county selection as a junior, Christian was also named all-county honorable mention as a sophomore. And in 36 career appearances (22 starts) spanning 179 2/3 innings, he is 15-8 with a 2.88 ERA as well as a .231 batting average against.
Notably, opposing batters are only hitting .161 against Christian in 2026, and they have an on-base percentage of just .197 as well.
“Every time he pitches, I expect us to win, and I expect him to go deep in the ballgame,” said Baker of how he feels when Christian takes the mound. “It really frees me up for the week knowing that he typically can throw a complete game for us. … But every time he goes out there, I expect him to throw strikes and really just compete and give us a chance to win.”
Christian has also improved his approach at the plate, as he’s currently batting .314 this season — he batted .324 last year, but hit just .196 in both 2023 and 2024 — with career highs in RBIs (13), extra-base hits (nine), walks (13), on-base percentage (.453), and slugging percentage (.608). Four of his extra-base hits have been triples, and he also hit his first prep home run recently while finishing just a single short of hitting for the cycle in the same game.
“I think it’s just all about seeing the ball early, and I feel like I’ve done a really good job of that this year,” said Christian. “Not swinging at bad pitches at least, that’s kind of been a big thing for me. So being able to see the ball as early as I can and understanding where it’s gonna be at, I think that’s helped a lot.”
“He doesn’t like to hit, believe it or not,” joked Baker of Christian, who plays first base when he isn’t pitching. “But I need him to hit for me, so I’m glad to see him producing. He’s one of our stronger kids; the ball really jumps off his bat. In previous years I think he’s watched too many pitches, but this year he’s swinging the bat and him just putting the ball in play is doing big things for us. … He’s been a good contributor for us in the middle of the lineup.”
According to Christian, his uptick in performance, particularly as a pitcher, may also have something to do with college recruitment being behind him. He signed his letter of intent in November to play at NCAA Division II Mars Hill after graduation.
“I think committing took a lot of pressure off,” said Christian, who also pointed out that he has benefited from “trying to get stronger, trying to throw the ball a little harder, and just fine-tuning some of those things to help get batters out.”
“He’s always had the tools,” added Baker. “... I think he’s always believed he can do it, but this year he just has a different look about him. He goes out there and he expects to throw seven innings and win a baseball game, and there’s a lot of pressure off of him this year now that he’s committed to college. He can just go out there and focus on baseball, and he’s done a great job for us.”
Patton is on track to reach the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state playoffs this spring for the first time in a decade thanks to an experienced roster that includes 10 seniors, with the team entering Friday’s late home game against league unbeaten and defending state champion East Rutherford having posted a 12-6 overall record — already the Panthers’ highest win total since they finished 12-12 in 2018 — and a 6-3 mark in Western Piedmont 3A/4A Conference play that is tied with R-S Central for second in the conference.
“We’ve always said our first two years at least that we were young, and we’re not young anymore,” said Christian. “So, I think that we’ve got to push ourselves a little harder. For some of our guys this is it, they’re not going to college to play, so it’s obviously their last opportunity to really prove what we can do. I think that good defense and being able to throw strikes has been two things that we’ve really struggled with over the past two or three years, so being able to do that has helped, and we’ve also hit the ball better this year than last year.
“Most of these guys I’ve gone to school with for the last seven, eight years, some of them since elementary school, so it’s just special. … It’s been nice being able to spend my senior year with all my buddies just having fun. Even when we lose, it’s always fun. We’re pushing each other, trying to get better, but at the same time we’re having fun.”
The Panthers have certainly been having plenty of fun when Christian is on the mound, and Baker credited his leadership style as a major reason for the squad’s success, acknowledging that Christian “speaks up when he needs to, but typically he’s more of a leader by example.”
“He’s not one to really get up in your face, and I don’t need that from everybody,” said Baker. “I need somebody that just carries himself the right way, carries himself in a way that the young ones can look up to. … I think that’s a good way to lead.
“This senior group, they’ve kind of hit a reset since they’ve been in high school. In middle school during their eighth-grade year they went undefeated, and then it’s been a gradual increase. … They’ve always had the tools, it’s just kind of growing into themselves, and the reality is they’ve faced some tough baseball competition in the conferences we’ve been in. But this year we’ve put it together a little better, we’ve pitched it better, we’ve hit it better, and I think that the belief in them this year has kind of grown with that.”
