The Pratt Community College baseball team has started conference play against four of the top five schools (Dodge City, Cloud Co., Barton, and Hutchinson) in the KJCCC standings to start conference play and unfortunately sit at 0-16 in conference play and 11-24 overall.  

The Beavers are set for their next conference series against the Broncbusters of Garden City Community College. Pratt will travel to Garden City, Kan. on Thursday, Apr. 4 for the opening two games and then will host the Broncbusters in Pratt, Kan. on Saturday, Apr. 6.  

We had a chance to sit down with head baseball coach Todd Reller and discuss the upcoming series and his overall assessment of the team as the Beavers continue to fight for their first conference win of the season. 

You have not had the start of conference play that anybody wanted... throughout the last few series what are some things that you have pinpointed that could lead to wins?  

I think anyone in the Jayhawk presents a challenge for us especially if we do not play the kind of baseball that leads to victories. We are not playing clean and are giving up a lot of free nineties. We are not forcing other teams to beat us as we are giving them a lot of stuff so that is something we have talked to the guys about and are things we can control. It has not been a very good start to the conference...hopefully we at the halfway point can turn the tide to clean some of those things up to give ourselves better chances and opportunities.  

Usually, by the time conference play rolls around, the lineup card is consistent... this season, there have been changes and different lineups throughout series. What have you learned through this process?  

The biggest thing we are trying to see is if something will spark us and will get us going a little bit. We are trying to force them to earn something. There are not necessarily guys that I feel like are just standing out in anyway and so we are trying to get them to show up every day and earn a spot, earn a role, and earn a position in the lineup and to take advantage of whatever that opportunity presents.  

You are a young team and do play a lot of freshmen... how has their learning and transition gone as you have moved throughout the conference play? 

There are some guys going through the ebbs and flows of their first year. The biggest thing is that some are going through true failure for the first time. There are a lot of them that go through high school that might have some ups and downs here or there but tend to have success more often than not. Sometimes when you get to college and go through failure for the first time it is hard to make an adjustment. We are trying to talk them through it and help them work through it. We help them understand that there are still another 20 games left in the season and we have an opportunity to go play better baseball.  

How have you managed through some injuries both in the bullpen and the starting rotation? How would you assess the pitching staff?  

It is never fun when you have arm injuries to figure out how to replace quality arms in your pitching staff. It has created opportunities for other guys, and I think the biggest thing we are trying to do is help them understand what to do in the new roles and how everything will work together. Even coach Mac and myself are trying to figure out the best way to utilize everyone to give ourselves a better opportunity to win and pitch better. The big thing we said going into the year was that we felt like we did have some depth on the mound, but we are really testing that right now with some of the injuries. Hopefully, some guys step up and take advantage of the extra opportunities that are getting right now.  

Tell us more about Garden City and some of the challenges that they present and some thoughts on the series?  

Anytime you have a new coach come in during the middle of the year, try to take over, create culture, take someone else's team, and make it their own, which is a challenge for any team. They are competing well and sounds like they are getting better every day. I think they will see more success as the year goes on and so it will be a challenge for us and a tough series. Hopefully, we can rise to the occasion and play well.