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Published Aug 24, 2020
Commitment Scouting Report: 2022 LHP Sean Fitzpatrick
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Andrew Hutchinson  •  HawgBeat
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It didn’t take long for Sean Fitzpatrick to make up his mind about where he wanted play in college.

The Class of 2022 left-hander from Texas committed to Arkansas over the weekend, a little more than three weeks after initially making contact with the Razorbacks’ pitching coach, Matt Hobbs.

Recruiting restrictions by the NCAA amid the coronavirus pandemic prevented Fitzpatrick from taking a true unofficial visit, but he still wanted to get a first-hand look at the campus. He flew up to Fayetteville on Friday to check it out, was back home Saturday and announced his decision via Twitter that afternoon.

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“Coach Hobbs and I talked and I really, really like his philosophy and what he brings to the table,” Fitzpatrick told HawgBeat. “The facilities and what the university does for the student-athletes is second to none, in my opinion.”

Near the end of a whirlwind month that saw him pick up his first offer and eventually 13 more over the span of about three weeks, Fitzpatrick reached out to Hobbs on July 30 and started building a relationship with him.

That first contact was made on the recommendation of his pitching coach, Kevin Beirne, who has worked with him for about eight years and was also the pitching coach for Trevor Stephan. Fitzpatrick even had the opportunity to work out alongside Stephan, the Razorbacks’ ace in 2017 and now a top prospect in the Yankees’ organization.

Before pulling the trigger, Fitzpatrick talked to head coach Dave Van Horn, as well, who convinced him to join what is now a 14-man class in 2022. He is the second commitment of the group from the Lone Star State, following top-10 prospect Jayson Jones out of Braswell.

“(Van Horn) is obviously a great coach, but I really enjoyed what he had to say,” Fitzpatrick said. “The guys they have already in my class are some dudes and I knew that I’d fit in and help us get better.”

To get a feel for what kind of player Arkansas is getting, HawgBeat spoke to Chris Schultea, his travel ball coach with Marucci Elite Texas, for a scouting report on the left-hander.

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(For a complete list of Arkansas’ baseball commitments in the 2021, 2022 and 2023 classes, as well as updates, clips and links to other scouting reports on the recruits, click here.)

Sean Fitzpatrick - Class of 2022

Position: Left-handed pitcher

High school: Tomball (Texas) Concordia Lutheran

Height: 6-0 | Weight: 150 | B/T: L/L

Other offers/interest: Texas Tech, Baylor, Oklahoma, Texas, Rice

Although Fitzpatrick is talented enough to garner 14 scholarship offers in July, the first thing out of Schultea’s mouth when asked for a scouting report on him was about his mental makeup.

He describes the left-hander - who is a 4.0 student at Concordia Lutheran - as a “cerebral” pitcher who keeps his own scouting reports on opponents and is always looking to pick his brain for even more knowledge.

“He’s a guy who’s hungry to learn, a guy who sits next to me and hangs on every pitch,” Schultea said. “He’s not afraid to ask questions, not afraid to speak up and chime in, ‘Coach, we should have gone fastball in there. Coach, why not the changeup here? Coach, this is what we had on him last time.’”

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