Hello Beaver fans,
I wanted to give a quick update and thoughts on our first fall outing with Dodge City. We were blessed with a great night that started a tad warm, but was a beautiful gameday environment.
A large local crowd with student-athletes, faculty, staff, and Pratt community members saw our young squad do A LOT of things really well; and make our fair share of mistakes in a new system. I would rate our defense generally ahead right now, with our hitting right behind (sans a lot of timely hits), and then pitching. I expect our arms to be behind right now only because of what we are doing with our team focus in that area.
Pitching will be more prominent in October as I take restrictions off of the group.
We made fantastic plays in the outfield, but will temper that with better cut-offs and knowing where to go with the ball. The infield turned some nifty plays, though we have to execute better under pressure with runners on third.
The catchers had good presence receiving the pitchers and showed good zip on their arms, but need to trust the process of throwing to bags with live runners.
I came away very satisfied with a lot of hard-hit balls, but we have to be competitive in every at-bat and not chase or watch strike-three due to being unsure. Baserunners are getting better at executing signs but will need to get more in-game practice to feel comfortable.
Unfortunately we didn't have much luck filming, but we have a ton of action shots for you courtesy of our sports information staff. We looked young, and will only get better in our next action this Sunday in a reset of our contests in Oklahoma. We will face Langston University, McPherson College, and the Texas Glory 18U programs in Langston and Coyle, Okla.
Please come support if you can!
-Melvin Jenkins
Head Softball Coach, Pratt Community College