La Cañada Flintridge native Eli Paton and the Grand Canyon University baseball team will be competing for a trip to Omaha.
The Antelopes are heading to Tuscon, Arizona, for the NCAA Division I baseball regionals, battling Arizona, West Virginia and Dallas Baptist University for a spot at the College World Series. GCU will begin the regionals with a matchup against Arizona on May 31 at 6 p.m.
Paton, who transferred to GCU from UCLA, helped the Antelopes secure a Western Athletic Conference title and was among the team’s batting leaders hitting 0.328 and a slugging percentage of 0.532. He has accumulated 66 hits, 15 doubles, eight home runs and 39 RBIs as the Antelopes third baseman. GCU finished conference action with a 23-7 record.
Paton, a redshirt junior, started his baseball career in La Cañada as a 4-year-old and helped lead his 8U and 9U Little League teams to championship seasons.
First published in the May 30 print issue of the Outlook Valley Sun.
