Former Cougar pitcher Spencer Patton is now a member of the Kansas City Royals after he was taken in the 24th round of the 2011 first-year player draft.

Its been a long road to this point since his days as a standout on the baseball field and hardwood at South Central High School. He played his first two years of college ball at Parkland before transferring Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville where he recently finished his senior campaign in impressive fashion.

Spencer's summer stops included stints with Marion's Southern Illinois Bullets and the Forest City Owls in South Carolina. In his final season with the Owls during the summer of 2009, he enjoyed one of the most successful seasons ever as he set a league record for strikeouts, finished a team best 10-0, and led the team to its coveted league championship.

After the magical run with the Owls, the stars seamed to be aligned for Spencer to be drafted in 2010 following his senior season with SIU-E, but a knee injury early in the spring forced him to miss the rest of the season. After surgery and a long rehab stint, he worked his way back into shape and made his first appearance on the mound that next fall when he pitched two innings in the South Central Alumni Game.

In 2011, Spencer enjoyed one of the finest single-seasons in SIU-E history. He finished with a 9-3 record and a team best 2.55 ERA. The 9 wins is the 3rd most in a single season, as he became just the 4th pitcher in school history with at least 100 strikeouts in a season. His 109 K's is the 2nd most in a single season, averaging 11 per nine innings which is 3rd best all time. He also struck out a career high 12 batters in three consecutive starts.

Leading up to the draft, Spencer was invited to two pre-draft workouts. His first stop was in St. Louis with Cardinals at Busch Stadium and a week later he traveled to Kansas City to showoff his stuff for the Royals at their big league park.

Draft day finally arrived and Spencer, his family, and a host of close friends gathered to anxiously await for his name to be called. It was a tension-filled afternoon listening to name after name being selected by their respective teams, but finally, there it was.......

"The Kansas City Royals select Spencer Patton from SIU-Edwardsville"