World Class Teen Anthony Patterson Throws His Enthusiasm Into Tossing Horseshoes

Earl Kettleson wasn’t going to push it - he knew better.

He just waited, patiently, hoping that one day his great-grandson would decide to start pitching horseshoes.

He figured if it was going to happen, it had to be when Anthony Patterson was ready.

He was 10.

“He had a horseshoe pit at his house, and I was wondering what he was doing, so I asked him,” said Patterson, now 15.

It turns out Patterson is a natural.

Yet horseshoe pitching is a far cry from being a natural youth sport of choice.

Patterson, who will be a sophomore at Gonzaga Prep this fall, doesn’t care.

Every Tuesday night he can be found tossing horseshoes for two hours at Franklin Park.

Great-grandfather and great-grandson - competing, practicing, having fun together.

Both are members of the Spokane Horseshoe Pitchers Association, which holds its league night at 7 p.m. Tuesdays. Franklin Park has 24 pits.

Patterson, the 1999 state junior horseshoe pitching champion, has been working a little harder at his game this summer.

He is headed to the World Horseshoe Pitchers Tournament in Bismarck, N.D., from July 31 to Aug. 13. There he will face the top junior pitchers from around the world. Close to 10,000 competitors of all ages will participate in the event.

He enters the world championships ranked No. 27 in the boys junior division, and he is hoping for a top-15 finish.

“He is our pride and joy junior going to the world tournament,” said Joe Wolf, president of the 24-member horseshoe pitchers association, made up mostly of senior citizens.

The club’s longtime members wish more juniors would join. Patterson is the association’s youngest member and its only junior.

They love having Patterson around. Especially his great-grandpa.

“I thought he might feel obligated (to pitch), so I decided to wait until he came to me,” said Kettleson, 75, who has eight grandchildren and three greatgrandchildren.

“Then we went to work. Now he’s teaching me.”

Patterson has tried recruiting his friends and his teachers but hasn’t had much luck.

Patterson was the youngest and the only junior in Saturday’s Spokane Open at Franklin Park with pitchers from Washington, Idaho, Montana and Oregon. He placed third overall, competing in the highest class.

He had a win over eventual tournament champion Russ Phillips.

Patterson throws from 30 feet. When he turns 18, he will throw from 40 feet.

A pair of horseshoes last about five years, and Patterson always carries two pairs in case one breaks. Each shoe weighs about 2-1/2 pounds.

The pit is 3 feet by 6 feet, and it’s 18 inches to the center of the stake from the sideboards.

In horseshoes, you earn three points for landing the shoe around the stake - called a ringer - and two points for being closest to the stake. A tournament might go until the first player reaches 40 points.

The final step before tossing the shoe is comparable to the last step in bowling, and you must not cross the foul line at the end of the cement.

The key in horseshoe pitching is to focus your eyes on the stake and follow through, Patterson said.

“And don’t be thinking of other things like what you want to eat,” he said. “It’s really a mental game.

“It’s odd to say that, but it’s not all physical. You have to be in the right mindset.”

Sometimes, just for fun, Patterson sprays his shoes with gold spray paint and orange on the tips.

He definitely stands out.

One Tuesday night last month, Patterson was the only one wearing shorts. His khaki cargo shorts hung below his knees, and he wore a Gonzaga University T-shirt. He had his cross country shoes on, since he had just completed a four-mile run.

Patterson also runs cross country, plays basketball and golfs for the Bullpups.

“We don’t have legs like he does,” said Kettleson, referring to his great-grandson’s decision to wear shorts.

“Come sundown, he’ll wish he had long ones on, but he’s tough,” said Buster Schack, who was decked out in denim overalls.

Patterson is enjoying this environment while he can. He’s not sure how much time he will have to pitch once he’s in college.

But he expects to come back to it one day.

“I will still love the sport,” Patterson said. “It’s always fun.”