Fort Scott baseball looks to leadership of new coach

Saturday, March 22, 2008
Scott Nuzum/Herald-tribune-- Fort Scott High School head baseball coach B.J. Pruitt tosses a ball out for a bunt fielding drill during practice Thursday morning at the FSHS football practice field. Pruitt, a 1997 graduate of FSHS, will coach his first game as a varsity coach Monday when the Tigers open their season against Nevada Monday at Lions Field in Fort Scott.

FORT SCOTT, Kan. -- New Fort Scott High School baseball coach B.J. Pruitt seems to be having a lot of fun as he takes over the Tiger program from Jeff DeLaTorre this season.

We say that because he uses that word to describe his experiences so far. In fact, it would also be evident that he doesn't feel any pressure in taking over the team as indicated by the fact that he never used that word in describing the job.

"It's fun to create the practice schedule," Pruitt says. "And it's fun figuring out what to do when ... you plan in the morning but a storm in the afternoon changes that. It becomes a challenge to plan and take advantage of the good days and get stuff done when we are inside.

"I don't look to it as pressure. I look to this as an opportunity to take the program to the next level and put our own spin on it. We have only one junior with 12 freshmen and six sophomores so we're looking not only to this year but next year as well. We're trying to build a program. That's the fun of it."

The Tigers, -- who played only 13 games last season (going 8-5) due to a rain-plagued spring in Southeast Kansas but still advanced to the Class 4A State Tournament -- have had to dodge raindrops again as they try to prepare for Monday's opener with Nevada at Lions Field in Fort Scott. In fact, on Thursday they practiced defensive plays and base-running on the football practice field behind the high school -- using the lines painted on the grass for the boundaries in discus as foul lines -- before heading to Fort Scott Community College's Dave Regan Clubhouse for some hitting practice.

"We haven't been able to go out on the field," Pruitt said. "We've spent a lot of time in the gym hitting on tees. We've got the groove in our swings. (FSCC) Coach (Chris) Moddelmog has been fantastic, letting us use the juco facility for hitting. The good relationship we have with them had been beneficial."

The majority of the starting lineup will be seniors. Nine of the 11 players on the varsity squad will be in the upper-most class.

"Senior leadership is what's going to carry us," Pruitt said. "Their leadership shows the other guys how to work hard and make themselves better."

One area where the Tigers aren't lacking, according to Pruitt, is pitching. He has six pitchers he feels can step in and perform at any time. He expects senior Alex Bowman to be Monday's starter. Blake Nelson, John Leek and Matt Wheeler, all seniors, and Mikey Karleskint and Alex Pemberton, both sophomores, can also pitch.

Because games were so few and far between last season, some of the Tigers pitchers didn't even get a chance to pitch until Regionals. Karleskint made his first appearance on the hill all season in the Regional Tournament championship game against Louisburg and Leek followed by getting the save in what was also his first pitching assignment all year.

Bowman is also slated to be the Tigers' leadoff batter, playing center field when he doesn't pitch. Nelson, who can play about anywhere, according to Pruitt, will primarily be the catcher and bat second. He can also play the outfield.

Leek, an All-Southeast Kansas League first team shortstop last season, will play there and bat third. Denton Ramsey will bat cleanup and play first base. Andre Davis will bat fifth and play in the outfield, although he is also the backup catcher.

The last four spots in the order may vary some depending on who pitches. Pruitt had Lane Farrell sixth and playing second base in the lineup he went through Thursday. Karleskint would play third and bat seventh. When Leek pitches, he will move to shortstop while Pemberton plays third.

Brian Weilert is slated in the eighth position and an outfield spot. Wheeler is tabbed for ninth and the outfield. Cody McKay rounds out the varsity roster as a reserve infielder, most often playing second base.

Second base is the one defensive position that's not settled. Pruitt had another scenario that had Pemberton at second and Farrell as the designated hitter.

"Having guys who can do a lot of things is very helpful," Pruitt said. "We are very versatile in what we can do, which will help us a lot."

"We're going to have to be versatile," Pruitt said. "We have to try to get guys into the right positions so we can get things happening. They can hit for power and average. The strong suit is probably our hitting.

"(Bowman) can run a little bit. We're going to try to create stuff; maybe some hit-and-run to get some guys moving."

Fort Scott finished third in the SEK last season even though it played only seven league games. In fact, no team played the full 16-game league schedule (Labette County and Iola each played the most league games, 12) and Independence won the title with a record of 9-1. Pittsburg was next at 8-2 with the Tigers following at 5-2.

Pruitt hasn't heard a lot about the league but doesn't really expect things to change -- with the hopeful exception of the Tigers moving to the top of the standings.

"Indy won it but I haven't heard a lot about them yet," Pruitt said. "Pittsburg will be tough. Any time you play them, it's going to be a big game. Labette County last year played at State, too, so they'll be up there."

The Tigers' State tournament appearance last season was a short one as they fell to eventual champion Kansas City Bishop Ward in the first round (Coincidentally, Labette County fell to the eventual runner up, Andover Central, in the opening round). Although the Tigers had so few games last year, the experience at State was good enough to make an impact on the returning players.

"Playing in big-time games will only help us," Pruitt says. "Having that experience will benefit us later in the season when it comes down to Regionals. They've seen how to win and get to the next level.

"(Against Prairie View), we were down seven runs but ended up coming back," Pruitt said as he recalled last year's Regional. "Andre Davis pinch hit in that game and have us a big left. They're looking forward to this year and playing in more big games like that."

Fort Scott will play Nevada in a varsity game at 4:30 p.m. Monday with a junior varsity contest to follow.

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