Georgetown Prep junior Matt Kneiss had thought about it and practiced it, but never done it in a game.
Thursday afternoon, the opportunity finally arose. Visiting St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes had runners on first and third with one out when a batter sent a low line drive Kneiss’ way. The Little Hoyas shortstop gloved the ball, dropped it like hot potato, and shoveled it to second baseman Andrew Aldrich to start a crafty double play.
Kneiss’ heads-up play in the third inning got pitcher Tim Wallerstedt out of a rare jam and the senior went on to fire a four-hit shutout, propelling Prep to a 12-0 victory.
“It’s just muscle memory,” said Kneiss. “You practice that play, but you don’t think you’ll ever get to use it in a game. Then when it happens you say, ‘Wow, that’s pretty cool.’”
“Cool” is an appropriate description of Wallerstedt (6-1), who fanned the side in the seventh inning. The senior, a closer last year, likes the new schedule in the Interstate Athletic Conference, which matches teams in the six-school league back-to-back, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Wallerstedt and sophomore Brad Lipman are a combined 7-0 against IAC teams. Next week, they will take on Landon as Prep (20-4, 8-0) can wrap up the regular season title.
“We came into the year knowing we had a good infield,” said Wallerstedt. “We probably thought [defending champion] St. Albans was favored, but we handled them and everyone else so far.”
The Little Hoyas have handled their competition like Kneiss with the line drive.
“Kid makes a play like that, it really lifts them up and deflates us,” said St. Stephen’s/SA coach Chad Artz. “That’s a great left side of the infield with that kid and the third baseman [David Dudish].”
In addition to his work in the field, Dudish had two doubles and a single, scored three runs and drove in three to lead the Prep offense. Adding two hits each were catcher Chris Horning and left fielder Brett Depenbrock, who also hit a home run Tuesday against the Saints.
Double Play
» SS/SA second baseman Casey Ide (East Carolina) had a double Thursday and on Tuesday accounted for the Saints’ only run with a homer in a 7-1 loss to Prep.
» St. Stephen’s/SA fell to 11-8 overall, 4-4 in the league.
» The Saints won the IAC title in 2004.
