Welcome to Kevin Curd's true confessions.

Thomas Dale High's senior shortstop has chosen to share this eye-opening story with the rest of the world.

"I sleep with my bat - I've been doing it since I was a little kid," he said with a smile.

His current pillow partner is a mostly green, 33-inch, 30-ounce Easton Stealth.

"I think it started back when the old TPX was the popular bat," he said. "I love my bats."

Curd's bats return the love, based on latest results. Against L.C. Bird, Curd he had a walk-off grand slam.

"Doesn't get any better than that," he said.

Frequently, Curd is the word for the Knights.

In another recent game at spacious Shepherd Stadium, "K-Cuta," as he is called, belted two homers against Colonial Heights - once to right-center, the other to left.

"Kevin absolutely crushed the one to left," Dale coach Chris Marshall said. "It flew over the net above the fence and over the house on the other side of the road - I bet 450 feet."

The Curd/Stealth combo has combined to hit .410 with four homers, 15 RBI, 15 walks and 18 runs in the No. 3 hole. The Knights are 9-1 in the Central District (14-2 overall) and No. 2 in the T-D Top 10.

Aloha: A military brat, Curd credits some of diamond talents to the warmth in Mililani, Hawaii, where he lived five years.

"In Hawaii, I played all year," he said. "One season there is like two seasons here."

Twice, he played on Pony League all-star teams (coached by former Milwaukee Brewers farmhand Terry Derby) that made a big splash on the mainland.

His U-10 team was third in the Mustang World Series, in Washington, Pa., in 2000, and his U-14 Pony squad took second in Irving, Texas, in'04.

A tribute: Curd wears necklace bearing the photograph of his late grandmother, Wilma Curd.

Kevin lived with her for two years in Knoxville, Tenn., while his parents (retired military Lee and Lisa Steed) were deployed in Saudi Arabia. This is the 10th anniversary of his grandmother's death.

Legion ball: A four-year starter, Curd hit about .350 a year ago but struggled in the field. He dedicated last summer to honing his glove work with Colonial Heights Post 284.

"I made defense more of a priority, working on it more each day in practice," he said.

This spring, Curd has been charged with just one error.

Barton, Virginia State and Chesapeake Junior College, Md., are among the schools expressing interest.

"Kevin's always been a big stick," Marshall said. "This season he's been great in the field, too."