AMSTERDAM, N.Y. — Nick Patten's dream is very much alive.

So is the future of the University of Delaware baseball program.

“We have our entire starting lineup and pitching staff coming back,” said Patten, a former Butler baseball and basketball standout and the Blue Hens' starting first baseman. “We graduated one senior and he did some pinch-hitting for us.”

Delaware finished 32-22 last season — missing the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament by a game — and had seven freshmen or sophomore starters in the lineup.

Patten was one of three Delaware freshmen to earn Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball Magazine Freshman All-America honors this year. Right fielder Kyle Baker (.346) and left-hander Brandon Walter (seven wins) were the others.

Patten hit .285 with 12 homers — at least twice as many as any other Delaware hitter — and 46 RBI. He had 16 doubles as well.

“Nick has legitimate big league power,” Delaware coach Jim Sherman said. “You don't see many freshmen come into Division I baseball and put up numbers like that.

“This kid can launch the ball. And it's not an aluminum bat thing. Put a wooden bat in his hands and he's still going to launch it.”

Rather than spend his senior year at Butler, Patten opted for the IMG Academy in Florida to expand his baseball skills. He has visions of playing professional baseball down the road.

Seeing fellow Butler ball players Colin McKee and Mick Fennell get drafted this year only fuels that notion.

“They are great kids. I know Colin and Mick personally,” Patten said. “I wish them the best.”

He'd love to join them someday. Sherman believes it can happen.

“He's going to spur interest from major league scouts by his junior season,” the coach said. “With power like his, he almost has to.”

But there is work to be done, even though Patten was third among freshmen in the nation this spring in home runs, sixth in RBI and seventh in slugging percentage (.565).

“I need to cut down on my strikeouts, put the ball in play more and hit over .300 next year,” Patten said.

He is spending the summer playing in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League (PGCBL) for the Amsterdam Mohawks in New York. In approximately 30 at bats, Patten is hitting .340 with a homer, three doubles and a triple thus far.

“The big thing Nick needs to do is lay off the hard sliders in the dirt,” Sherman said. “That maturity level will come and when it does, his power numbers will get even better.”

Patten committed seven errors at first base this year — mostly throwing miscues early in the season — and had 30 assists.

“He was better than I thought he'd be over there,” Sherman said. “He can pick the ball out of the dirt and he's got a nice glove. Nick is a tough kid.”

Sherman sees Patten as his first baseman for the next three years, provided the MLB Draft doesn't snatch him up beforehand.

Patten is unsure of his long-term position in baseball.

“I'm fine with first base and I'll keep working to improve at it,” he said. “But if I get drafted, it will be for my bat. I may wind up at first base, a corner outfield position, wherever. But my bat will draw the interest.

“At 6-foot-4, around 200 pounds, I'm seen as a power hitter. I was happy with my numbers in that area this year.”

Patten is majoring in criminal justice at Delaware.