Westside Sophomore Danny Dunn Stars in Prep Shootout

March 26, 2009

Sprinting towards third in the bottom of the seventh inning of a 4-4 ballgame against Prep after ripping a line drive past a diving Kyle Kubat in left field, Westside sophomore Danny Dunn saw third base coach Bob Greco  swinging his arm wildly in big circles, waving the young ballplayer home in an effort to win the ballgame -- right here, right now.  

In that instant Dunn could be excused for having a bit of a déjà vu moment, flashing back a couple of innings earlier when he attempted to score from third on a wild throw and was tagged out at the plate by Prep pitcher Ryan Briggs on a play that wasn't even close. 

But if there was any hesitation in Dunn's mind, it certainly didn't show as he raced full-bore towards senior catcher Andrew Pryor who was blocking the plate with his leg and stretching his catcher's mitt towards left field as the relay throw whizzed towards him.  Dunn plunged headfirst towards the plate with outstretched hands as Pryor received the throw and simultaneously twisted his hands into Dunn for the tag.  In the instant following the bang-bang play at the plate, it was unclear whether Westside had just won, or whether the Warriors had squandered an opportunity to have their leadoff man at third base with no outs.  Then, as Pryor turned to show the ball to the home plate umpire, the official threw up his hands to signal "Safe!"  Game over!  Westside 5, Prep 4. 

Prep vs. Westside is always special, and this one claims its place in the annals of the storied rivalry.  With temperatures in the mid-30's and a sharp wind out of the northeast, it was hard to imagine from the outset that this early season contest would bear any resemblance to the epic post-season battles between the two premier programs.  But here was UVA signee Ryan Briggs on the mound, throwing 90 mph BB's.  Here was Prep jumping out to a two-run lead; here was Westside battling back to tie, then going ahead by two.  And here was broad-shouldered Joe Kankovsky lashing a double, followed by Prep's talented junior hitter Mike Pritchard blasting a two-run shot over the fence to tie it up.  And here was Bob Greco, rolling the dice, sending his leadoff man home to win the game rather than playing it safe and keeping him on third with hitters coming up behind him.  Even though the season has barely gotten underway, there's nothing quite like a Prep-Westside game to make you really believe that it's baseball season, even if you can see your breathe in the fourth inning. 

| Game Photos |  [We'd like to thank contributing photographers Bob Irlbeck and Steve Branscombe for providing very special images of this game.]