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PROVO — Interim no more for BYU baseball coach Trent Pratt.
After 25 games with a temporary title, the Cougars baseball team took the tag off Pratt's name Wednesday afternoon, announcing him as the 14th head coach in program history.
Pratt succeeded former coach Mike Littlewood when the latter resigned in early April for personal reasons. In 25 games since, Pratt guided the Cougars to a 16-9 record, including a 10-6 mark in the West Coast Conference, and fourth-place finish in the league by winning nine of their final 10 regular-season games.
Following the season, 11 players received all-conference recognition, the most since 1961, including first-team selection Austin Deming and two All-WCC freshmen in Ozzie Pratt and Collin Reuter.
"I feel really excited and blessed for this opportunity," Pratt said in a statement. "I'm grateful to Tom Holmoe, President (Kevin) Worthen and BYU for their trust in me. I'm ready to get to work, and I'm looking forward to big things ahead for BYU baseball."
Pratt has been part of the BYU baseball program since 2013, a run that saw conference championships in 2016, 2017 and 2019 and an NCAA Tournament berth in 2017. A former catcher at Arizona State and Auburn, he was drafted three times in the MLB draft, finally in the 12th round by the Philadelphia Phillies, and spent four seasons in the organization before retiring from his playing days.
That continuity proved pivotal for BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe as he considered the full-time replacement for Littlewood with the Cougars one year away from joining the baseball-hungry Big 12 Conference.
"Trent has done an excellent job leading our baseball team through his assignment as interim coach," Holmoe said. "He quickly earned the respect and trust of our team and is the right choice to guide BYU Cougar baseball into the future, which shortly will include our entry into the Big 12."
A member of the 1997 USA Baseball junior national team, Pratt prepped at Tooele High and was the USA Today Utah Player of the Year and TPX/Collegiate Baseball High School All-American as a senior in 1998. He and his wife Darice are the parents of six children.
