After struggling last season with injuries and illnesses that often limited his roster options, West Prairie/ Southeastern head baseball coach Grant Bland is excited for the co-op between the two schools this spring due to the increase in players to the program.
Bland welcomed 26 student-athletes to the start of spring practice, 15 from West Prairie and 11 from Southeastern.
West Prairie and Southeastern boys have already joined together this season for football and several of the players played against one another in basketball, so Bland was pleased to see some familiarity with several of the players.
“On that first day, it was really cool seeing them conversing with one another and joking as such and each day gets better and better,” said Bland. “Some of them knew each other from football, but not as many as I thought did actually. They’ve really started to come together pretty well. I love to see them interact like they’ve known each other forever.”
After having his roster reduced at times last season to anywhere from eight to 11 players, Bland is very happy with the influx of new players.
