It’s the seventh inning of a crucial conference game between Hofstra and James Madison University. The Pride’s starting pitcher began the game strong but has began to nibble around the corners too much and walked the lead off hitter to put the tying run at the plate. He has fallen behind the batter 2-0 and the lead is very much in danger.
“Get Weissheier loose,” he says to the bullpen catcher. Not anticipating to hear anything he is about to hang up the phone when he hears the voice on the other end blurt out, “WHICH ONE?!”
That is a conundrum not many teams have at the college level. Whereas many high schools have brothers on the same team, by the time college rolls around the brothers have either gone on to play at separate schools or one of them decided to focus on his studies.
The Weissheier brothers, Kevin and Matt, just concluded their 2015 season on the same roster for the Hofstra Pride. In fact, they were in the same bullpen as well.
It was not their intention.
“We seemed to almost want to do the complete opposite of go somewhere together,” said the elder brother, Kevin. “We wanted to create our own stories and career identities,” he added.
After graduating from Chaminade, Kevin chose to attend Fairfield University in Connecticut. From there, he transferred to a junior college in North Carolina. After putting up strong numbers, he chose to transfer back home to Hofstra to play in his backyard.
“I was hesitant in accepting the offer at first because I didn’t know how Matt would feel about me coming in and sharing some of the spotlight and innings. But after chatting with him, we decided it would be awesome to play close to home and with each other,” he said.
He noted that his brother was not the only reason he decided to accept the offer. The other factor was Head Coach John Russo.
“Russo has known our family for years and watched us play and grow up. From day one, he laid all his cards on the table, made his plans and intentions clear and never made a promise that he couldn’t keep. some coaches make wild promises and ideas just to get you to commit to them. I had peace of mind knowing him and his plan which ultimately brought us both to Hempstead,” he added.
While that may have created some sort of resentment between brothers in that situation, Kevin noted that the dynamic between the brothers is such that they were proud of each other and pushed each other.
“By pushing Matt to try and be the best, he not only forced me to work even harder but make our team better while trying to do it,” he said.
Now that the book is closed on 2015 and Kevin has gone on to graduate and begin his career with Sound Wealth Financial Group, he can sit in the stands and root for Matt and one other player he has a rooting interest in.
Robert Weissheier. That’s right, there will be two more Weissheier brothers on the team beginning in the fall of 2016.
“My whole family (especially my mother), would have loved nothing more than to have all three of her sons on University Field at the same time. I would do nearly anything to have all of us at the same time. We never really got to play at the same place and time because of our age gap.
“Getting to watch Robert and Matt play is going to make me just as happy though,” he added.
That means five more years of checking the program and seeing “Weissheier No. 51” and opposing coaches will most likely say, “Jeez, how many years of eligibility does this kid have?”
