AN EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME AS TWO SISTERS PLAYED KEY ROLE FOR HORSEHEADS SOFTBALL IN THE SPRING (2022-07-07)

By Brian Fees
Southern Tier Sports Report
It’s not often that two sisters hit a home run in the same varsity softball game.

It’s even more rare when that happens in a sectional final.

The odds of both home runs coming late in a comeback win are the stuff of legends, and that’s exactly what Molly and Megan Wolf did in the sectional softball final this year.

Molly, a junior all-state selection this year, hit a big home run to help start the comeback. Megan, a freshman, who was this year’s all-Southern Tier Sports Report top newcomer of the spring, hit a game-tying home run. Molly then had a game-winning hit, while Megan closed out the victory on the mound.

“I think it’s fun knowing she’s right there in front of me, or next to me,” Moly Wolf said. “She’s a great athlete, as we saw during basketball season and soccer season and now softball season. She’s really blooming as an athlete and I’m really proud of her.”

For Megan it’s nice knowing she has her sister behind her when she pitches.

“It’s great, just knowing she’s behind me,” Megan Wolf said. “If it’s hit to her side I have someone there to make the play. If I strikeout (at the plate) or something goes wrong I have someone there saying you’ve got this going into the next inning.”

Trailing to state-ranked Corning in the sectional final the Blue Raiders got back-to-back home runs by Molly Wolf and Olivia Packard and an inning later Megan Wolf tied the game on a home run.

“When I hit it, I was so excited,” Moly said. “When Liv (Packard) hit it I was so excited, I knew it was gone and then when Meg hit it to tie the game I was so excited, it was just the icing on the cake.”

“When she hit hers, I thought we have some momentum going,” Megan Wolf said. “Let’s go, we’ve got this, I can go out and throw strikes, it’s going to happen.”

For both sisters it’s a big help having the other one on the team. For Megan having her sister behind her on the field can only make her a better player.

“She helps because she can see everything behind me,” Megan said. “She’s talking to me, I can trust what she’s saying, what’s going on, if a runner is going. That’s definitely helpful knowing I can trust her out there and being my sister it’s great.”

For Molly there are things her sister can see, as a pitcher, that can help her.

“She definitely does better at reading pitches than I am at that and being able to see her pitch helps me out a lot to,” Megan Wolf says.

Whenever Megan pitches there are as many nerves for her sister as for the pitcher herself, or even more nerves.

“Myself, I think I’m more nervous than she is,” Molly said. “I look at her and she’s calm, cool and collected and I’m over there shaking, but I know she’s got it, she’s a great pitcher, a great fielder.”

For both sisters having each other gives them someone to always work out with, especially while they were stuck at home during covid.

We always had a partner we could always work together,” Molly said.

But, that didn’t always mean Molly catching for her sister.

“She didn’t like that so much,” Megan said.

“I stopped once she hit me one time and it hurt pretty bad because she throws pretty hard,” Molly said.

While Molly did catch her sister a few times during Covid, she really stopped catching her most of the time years ago.

“She was like 12, it was like three years ago I stopped, she throws too hard, it hurts,” Moly said.

For both sisters there is a bit of a friendly rivalry on the field that pushes each to be better.

“We have some rivalry going, as our teammates can tell you,” Molly said.

When one sister has a big game it motivates the other.

“That gets me going,” Megan said.

And, there are some moments where the sisters will compare notes after games and let each other what they did right, or wrong, in the game. But, both sisters also always support each other.

“We’ve got each other’s back,” Molly said.

And, all of this led to a magical moment that neither sister will ever forget.

“Knowing we are together, we are always going to remember this moment,” Molly said.

After the win Megan leapt in the air to celebrate. She threw her glove and hugged her teammates, but one hug had a lot of special meaning as her and Molly embraced.

“The hug after this win, ew are never going to forget that,” Megan said. “It’s something we’ll never forget.”
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IN PHOTO: Horseheads' Megan (left) and Molly Wolf. PHOTO BY BRIAN FEES