By Matt Gade

605 Sports

RAPID CITY — Wyatt Reeder used to line up along the dugout waiting to get autographs from members of the Post 22 Hardhats as a kid. 

On Wednesday night, Reeder was the one signing autographs as the Hardhat senior stepped off the diamond before heading to Kansas. 

The 18-year-old, who signed with the Nebraska Huskers to continue his baseball career, has found himself called up to the Jayhawk Collegiate League where he will play for the Kansas Cannons in Augusta, Kansas in preparation for his time in Lincoln, Neb..

While Post 22 head coach Rich Downs has only taken over the team since being named head coach in February, he said Reeder immediately impressed. 

“He’s a tremendous young man, works hard, loves the game, loves the team concept, loves his teammates,” Downs said. “I truly enjoy working with him.”

After a pair of seasons riddled with injuries, Reeder had a breakout campaign last season during his junior campaign, breaking the Hardhat single-season batting average with a (.529). 

That breakout season led to a phone call that led to an opportunity that would make Reeder’s dream possible.

“When I started getting close to breaking the batting average record last year, which Casey Klapperich held, his family and him started coming to watch games, and I met him, and he really liked me,” Reeder said. “And he reached out to his coach, Coach (Rob) Childress, who used to be his coach. He's the pitching coach (at Nebraska) now, and it was the first time he's reached out since his playing days in 20 years for somebody, and I ended up getting calls from Coach Childress, (Lance) Harvell, (Will) Bolt, and (Mike) Sirianni, all within like the span of, you know, three days.”

That led to an invite to a prospect camp, where Reeder did what Reeder does. He was hitting balls all over.

“I hit, I think, 10 home runs of the 20 balls I had, and two, like completely out of the stadium, and they pulled me aside after, and they're like, ‘That's the best batting practice round we've ever seen,’ and they offered me right there on the spot. Obviously, you know that's a dream school for me, and a dream opportunity, so I committed right there.”

Reeder’s chance to go play for Nebraska is not a shock for former Post 22 Hardhat head coach Kelvin Torve.

“I remember distinctly when I thought he did something that was freakishly good,” Torve said. “It was fall ball. We went to Northeastern Colorado Junior College, and we're playing them, so he's a 14-15-year-old, and they had college-age pitchers. It was junior college, and two times in the game against the junior college pitchers, he’s got two strikes against the left-hander that was throwing in the mid-80s. He gets to two strikes, he fouls off a couple pitches, and then he just hits a bullet up the middle, and I said, "Whoa, that's special right there, and I knew from then on that he was going to be really good.”

Torve, who retired this past off-season after eight seasons leading the Hardhats, said he wasn’t surprised Reeder could play at Nebraska, but rather said he was surprised they offered, given his age.

“The only thing I was surprised about was that normally, Power Four schools like Nebraska recruit eighth and ninth graders. They've got to have their recruiting class done by the time their kids are sophomores or juniors, and so Wyatt going down there as a senior, he was a little bit behind the curve, but he was so impressive, they offered him on the spot, which that didn't surprise me, because he's as good as they come.”

Torve, who is a Post 22 alum himself, having played from 1976-78, played Division I baseball at Oral Roberts University before spending time in the minors and having been called up to the Majors twice, with the Minnesota Twins and New York Mets, said Reeder has the natural talents to go far in baseball. 

“He catches everything, he's got tremendous hands. No, literally, he catches everything,” Torve said. “He has to work on his arm strength, and he knows that. His foot speed has increased tremendously, and because of how he's improved with his throwing and how good he is with his hitting, I anticipate his arm action cleaning up at the next level, and you know, I think he could play second base, he could definitely play left field, he could definitely play first base, so I wouldn't, I wouldn't put on any limits on this young man.”

Rapid City Post 22's Wyatt Reeder set the Hardhats single-season batting average record last year. (Matt Gade / 605 Sports)

From sneaking in to stepping up to the plate

Ever since his parents, Konrad and Katie Reeder moved to Rapid City, Wyatt knew he wanted to play baseball for Post 22.

Konrad, who played hockey professionally for 8 years, finished out his hockey career with the Rapid City Rush in 2014 where he and his wife Katie had made Rapid City their home.

“We fell in love with Rapid City, just with the community, and I love the Midwest, and I wanted to raise the kids in the Midwest,” Katie said. “I'm from North Dakota, you know, so it's like land of shovel and swat, you know, snow and mosquitoes, and here I think it's a hidden gem.”

Katie and Konrad have five kids in all, Wyatt is the oldest. Their other four children are Jaxson, Khloe, Abbie and Wilson.

As Wyatt’s family made roots in Rapid City, Wyatt found himself drawn to Fitzgerald Stadium.

Openly admitted to sneaking into games whenever he could as a kid.

“My parents started buying tickets, but at the start, when we moved here — I was sneaking in through that back gate,” Wyatt said.

“We came to a lot of the games, one year I went to the auction, and I bought a birthday party package… and they're playing wiffle ball, and you know, (Wyatt) he's about seven, and the players came over and signed balls for them. He's always dreamed of being a Hardhat,” Katie said.

Wyatt has always been the competitive type, which has led him to not only succeeding on the diamond but also setting records for the Rushmore Thunder high school club hockey team.

Given his dad’s history on the ice, it’s not a surprise for Wyatt’s success on the rink.

While playing as a defenseman, Wyatt set records for career scoring, assists and points on top of single-season records too.

Despite that much success on the ice, baseball is where he found his passion.

“I would probably say hockey was where it all started. You know, I watched my dad play in professional hockey all those years, and I was like always in the locker room and around the guys, so I really, you know, fell in love with hockey, and it wasn't really until I was like six years old who moved to Rapid when I picked up baseball, and you know, this town just loves baseball so much, and they, you know, the support around Post 22 is so special that I really fell in love with baseball, and that's what you know I'd want to do.”

A part of the Thunder, Reeder and the team earned back-to-back state titles the past two years including a National Championship in 2025 and third-place finish in 2026.

While playing baseball, Reeder was homeschooled, which gave him the flexibility to train when oftentimes his teammates were stuck in school.

He was even caught sneaking into the Post 22 batting cages when no one was around. Torve said he appreciated Wyatt’s drive to be working, but from a liability standpoint couldn’t do that.

“I remember as a freshman and sophomore, he (Torve) called my dad a couple times, and told them I shouldn't be going down as much as I was, and after that we got some liability papers and stuff taken care of. So I'm actually allowed to be in there now,” Wyatt said with a laugh.

Katie and Konrad would even take turns running batting practice.

“Mom's probably not gonna like this, but I think Dad throws a little bit better BP. But Mom's a great sport to go out there and throw a batting practice to me,” Wyatt said. “They're both awesome.”

On Wednesday, Wyatt capped off his last Post 22 baseball game, until the state tournament in July, with a tough loss for the Hardhats falling to their cross-parking lot foes, the Post 320 Stars 5-3 in nine innings. While the Hardhats lost, Reeder still recorded a home run in the game.

With five kids, Katie and Konrad are used to divvying up responsibilities on the kids' needs. 

For Katie, that will include driving Wyatt down to Kansas for when he has to report by May 26.

‘Couldn’t be more grateful’

Wyatt said he couldn’t be more grateful for his coaches at Post 22 that have helped him reach his dream of playing Division I baseball. 

A sentiment his coaches say is a reflection of Wyatt’s character.

“I think Rob Childress, the Nebraska coach, said it best before Wyatt went down there. He had a Childress had a conversation with Wyatt on the phone, and Rob Childress told me that he rarely has conversations with 17 and 18 year-olds like the conversation he had with Wyatt,” Torve said. “(Childress) said he was mature, he was humble and so the conversation that Wyatt had before he went down there went a long way to having Nebraska give him a second look, so to me that's probably the best testament I could give to what a wonderful young man he is.”

Katie said at Post 22, it’s an extended family and they couldn’t be more grateful for the support not only for Wyatt but the family as a whole.

A sentiment Downs echoed about Konrad and Katie and their family.

“They are an awesome group,” Downs said of the Reeder family. “I mean, you don't get better, don't get better parental support, don't get better the way these kids have been brought up. Just a joy to work with.”

At Nebraska, Wyatt said he doesn’t care where he plays. 

Post 22's Wyatt Reeder impressed the Nebraska coaching staff so much at their tryouts, they offered him a scholarship the same day. (Matt Gade / 605 Sports)

“I just love to hit,” Wyatt said.

Wyatt said the competition should be a lot tougher for the left-handed batter, but that makes him more excited to compete.

“I just love to compete. Isn’t that what it’s all about?” Wyatt said.

Torve said having seen Wyatt miss nearly two seasons of baseball due to injuries, he knows Wyatt is capable of handling it.

“There's going to be those challenges, and then there's the mental challenges of not living at home, and he's going to be confronted with more failure than he's ever had in his life, but all of that, you know, is just the process of moving up the ladder in the baseball world, and he has everything he needs to do that,” Torve said.

As Post 22 is the host site for this year’s Class A American Legion state tournament, Wyatt has worked it out where he’ll be able to come back and play for the Hardhats once the tournament begins.

Downs said he gladly welcomes Wyatt back in July, but until then the Hardhats will have to figure out how they’ll succeed without him.

“The nice thing is that he's going to be able to come back, and then we'll see how things shape up,” Downs said. “We got to just keep playing without him, you know. We got to start getting better at bats with men in scoring position, and we'll get that done.”

Until then Wyatt is excited to play among some of the best players his age in Kansas.