NATCHEZ — Former Trinity Episcopal catcher Chase Patrick will now forever have his name enshrined alongside dozens of the greatest athletes in Natchez sports history.

Patrick was chosen to represent the 2011 Trinity State Championship baseball team on the Wall of Champions at Sports Center. Patrick’s No. 15 jersey was put on display in the store Friday afternoon, and Patrick himself was there to do the honors.

“I’m going to be on the wall with the greats,” Patrick said. “It hasn’t really hit me yet. I really appreciate and am honored for (Coach Mitch Ashmore) to pick me out of all the seniors. I got teary eyed (when he told me).”

Ashmore said he chose his catcher to represent the team because Patrick was one of the leaders of the Saints’ squad.

“There’s no question that when you build a ball club, you start with catcher,” Ashmore said in a prepared statement. “The strides that Chase made from when I first met him were unbelievable. I asked a lot of him, and he never let me down.”

Ashmore said he was at Sports Center Friday afternoon to show his appreciation for Patrick and his accomplishments.

“I’m here today to recognize his ability, not only to be a great leader, but also a great young man,” Ashmore said in the statement.

Patrick, who won two state titles with the Trinity football team to go along with his baseball championship, said he wanted to thank his coaches and supporters.

“I just want to say thanks to all the coaches and those people that supported Trinity baseball and football and let them know we appreciate it,” he said. “That’s not just me, but I speak for the whole team on that.”

Patrick said he would always remember Trinity’s state titles, but the baseball championship might be the most special.

“It was spectacular, once in a lifetime,” he said. “Not many kids get to experience state championships. It was a big privilege for us.

“Winning one in baseball was always a dream. It was a feeling of achievement and closure on athletics for me, because I didn’t go on to play in college.”

Patrick played a vital role for the Saints’ baseball team as the team’s catcher. He said he saw himself as a leader of the team his senior season.

“I had a great team that followed behind me and a couple other guys,” he said. “On the field I was a leader.”

Patrick picked up catching at an early age and soon after he was locked into that position.

“When I was 10 years old they put me there, because no one else could do it, and after that I never played another position,” he said.

Patrick said he was not the most potent hitter on the Trinity team, but he did come up with some big hits in clutch situations.

“When we needed it I could come through,” he said.

Patrick is now studying business at Southwest Mississippi Community College, but he hopes to change his focus to psychology and study at Southern Mississippi. Eventually he wants to focus on post trauma at University Medical Center.

Patrick said there are certain aspects of being behind the dish that he misses, but most of all he misses his teammates.

“I miss being with the team,” he said. “You experience things with all your boys, your brothers. You are out there fighting for something that everybody wants.”