Softball Sister Act

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by Katharine Palmer, Virginia Athletics Media Relations

Having a sister is like having a best friend you can’t get rid of. You know whatever you do, she’ll be there. Even if you have to play against her.

Last week the term sibling rivalry took a literal meaning. The Preuss sisters who hail from La Plata, Md. were in opposite dugouts for the opening game of the Cavalier Classic, played at The Park in Charlottesville. Lindsey, a senior outfield for Virginia and her younger sister Kristi, a freshman infielder for Georgetown, were opponents for the first time on the softball diamond.

They have each made a family of their own at their respective schools, but the bond between sisters never goes away. Especially when one is in a hitting slump.

“Growing up, we always played catch together and would work on our hitting together,” Lindsey said. “Still to this day, if I am struggling with my hitting, I will call her and she’ll tell me things, and vice-versa.”

Recently, the younger Preuss sister had to inform her older sibling she wouldn’t be on the field when their teams played each other. Kristi suffered an injury that kept her out of the Cavalier Classic and unfortunately had to watch from the dugout instead of her usual spot at first base.

“It would have been amazing for both of us to be out there, playing college softball against each other,” Kristi said. “But watching from the dugout was different that watching from the stands. I was in a dugout that I have seen so many teams in before but never been in myself. And seeing my own team in there and my own team on the field, it was definitely exciting.”

It is a give-and-take relationship for the Preuss sisters. Lindsey has helped her younger sister with the questions and situations that arise as a student-athlete. Kristi, meanwhile, is making sure Lindsey is savoring her final year of collegiate softball.

“She has always been very independent,” Lindsey said. “But anytime she has questions about how many classes to take – that was a big thing for her – I’ll talk to her about that. If she is in a slump or with her being injured, I’m just helping her get some perspective. I’ve had four years and she’s had four weeks. We have always been really close.”

Lindsey started playing organized softball at age seven, and her younger sister would conveniently tag along to all the games. When Lindsey’s involvement became more of a year-round thing, Kristi also started to play.

“I played shortstop and she played shortstop,” Lindsey pointed out. “We would go to the field and take ground balls and if I got upset, she would watch me and also get upset.”

Even though Kristi was just a little bit too young to play with her sister on the summer league travel teams, the Preuss sisters still were teammates for one high school season. Lindsey continued to play short and Kristi moved over to second base making the La Plata middle infield a dangerous one.

“Both of us were in a situation where we hit our strides with softball around our junior year in high school,” Lindsey said. “But that was a cool experience, us being able to do some things up the middle of the infield. That was so much fun for me and it was the best year I ever hit. A lot of that was having her there.”

Fast forward four years later, and Lindsey is a starting outfielder for Virginia and Kristi, who took her own path, is in her first season at Georgetown.

“I always wanted to go to UVa,” Lindsey said. “Kristi had shown interest in going to UVa as well, but despite how talented she is, and she is more talented than me in a lot of ways, she was looking to make her own mark. She would be just doing what I did, even though she was much more qualified in lot of ways. And she is loving Georgetown.

“There are still times I wish she was here because I haven’t gotten a hit in four games,” Lindsey said. “Having her in the dugout, she would just tell me to knock it off.”

The Preuss sisters are similar in many ways but are able to compliment each other.

“She is the reason I kind of knew what to do with my life,” Kristi said of her older sister. “I feel like I know how to be a student-athlete at a big university. She is about as good as a role model can be.”