By Barbara Alvarez
LAS CRUCES - Imagine a university softball team which has, not only sisters on the team, but identical twins; not only identical twins, but “mirror” twins. Imagine, further, that these team members have a strong work ethic and love of softball.
You have just imagined a scenario that is reality for the New Mexico State University Aggie softball team. Krysha and Vanessa Fitzgerald are two of the newest members of the team.
Mirror twins are the same gender, share identical DNA, and have opposite side dominance.
Krysha and Vanessa Fitzgerald, a right-handed catcher and left-handed pitcher respectively, are those mirror twins. The duo played softball for two high schools in Cloverdale, Calif., where they also played volleyball at a high level, but chose softball because of the strong family connection to the sport.
Vanessa and Krysha first played for Ursuline Catholic Girls High School in Cloverdale. The duo led their softball team to a North Central League Championship. The twins transferred to Cloverdale High School as sophomores, helping their team to a second place finish in the NCL.
As juniors at Cloverdale High, their softball team won the state championship with a perfect 23-0 record. Their senior year, the Fitzgeralds helped their team again progress to the NCL championship, despite losing their entire defense.
Softball associate coach Cat Heifner, who has been involved in working with the twins, gave her assessment of the sisters.
“Vanessa is a natural athlete and has a ton of potential," Heifner said. "Krysha is big and strong and hits the ball really well.”
The Fitzgerald’s chose softball because they spent so many years playing the game. Their family connection to this sport is strong, in part, because of their mother’s involvement with softball. Margaret Fitzgerald is also “coach” Fitzgerald, and she is the head coach of the Cloverdale High School softball team. The twins had to get used to calling their mom “coach” when they played softball for the high school.
“It was hard having mom as a coach,” Krysha said. “We got a lot of criticism through high school. The other girls thought we were getting special treatment because of that. It’s hard because you can’t take that home life onto the field, she’s your coach.”
“Sometimes it was hard for us to get through that,” Vanessa added. “There were the hours on the field when she was not our mom. When we’re off the field, then she’s our mom,”
Both girls agreed that it was harder for them to understand the mom/coach dichotomy when they were younger, but as they grew older, the concept became easier to understand, even if it was still difficult to accept. They both remembered calling coach Fitzgerald “mom” on the field and being corrected.
Krysha said that their Cloverdale teammates didn’t see the extra hours of work that she and Vanessa put in on the softball diamond after practice and on weekends. They also played summer softball. As members of their traveling team, they played in Indianapolis, Florida, Colorado, Arizona, Washington and in Los Angeles.
Their repetitive schedule of traveling and playing would sometimes wear on the twins, but they were willing to accept that so that they could improve their games.
“There were definitely times when we were tired,” Krysha said.
The twins also had another family connection during their time at Cloverdale High School. In addition to their mom being the softball coach at Cloverdale High, their Dad, Patrick, is the basketball coach at the high school.
Now that the girls have graduated from high school, they have had to make another significant transition in their lives. After being born and raised in California, they’ve moved to a university that is far from home. However, after traveling through several states to play softball, the girls are more accustomed to being on their own and away from their family.
In California people move at a faster pace. In contrast, life in Las Cruces is slower and more relaxed and they like living in Las Cruces.
“It’s a little different than California,” Krysha said. "People are on the go there, but guys open the doors for you here, and the people here are laid-back.”
As student-athletes, the sisters are finding that their daily schedules leave little room for anything more than classes, studying and practice. NMSU stresses to its student-athletes that the academic side of university life takes priority over sports.
“We chose NMSU because they’re big on communications and all the sciences and that’s what I’m going to major in. So far, all the professors that I have are really good,” Krysha said. “If you talk with them about your schedule, they really work with you. With the academics, I told them I’m a student-athlete and they understand that academics come before sports.”
The twins day begins with classes, visits to the library, working with study groups and meals at the cafeteria. Down time in between classes is dominated by studying and conferring with their professors about upcoming assignments, homework, projects, conditioning and practice.
After their classes have ended each day, the twins go to the NMSU practice field for conditioning drills and softball practice. Once practice has concluded, the duo returns to the cafeteria to eat, then goes to study hall, which is a required element of every freshman student-athlete’s academic program. After study hall, the pair still have to finish assigned homework. Generally, their days are busy from the time they get up in the morning until they turn out their lights and get into bed.
Both agreed education takes priority over sports.
“I liked the softball program,” Vanessa said. “I looked at the softball before the academics, but once I looked through the catalog and started researching a bit more of it, I became more interested.”
Coach Fitzgerald didn’t only say goodbye to her daughters when they moved to Las Cruces; she also lost her high school catcher and her pitcher. She now has to add new players to her high school program and refine their playing skills.
“Our mom’s got some of the younger girls now,” Krysha and Vanessa said. "She is rebuilding the softball program after she lost several seniors last year.”
The twins say they are adjusting well to life in Las Cruces and at NMSU. According to Krysha, “We had to share a room up until our sophomore year, but when our brother went to the University of California-Davis, we got separate rooms. Now we’re sharing a room again.”
“They weren’t going to be allowed to room together,” head coach Kathy Rodolph said. “Since they are so friendly with the other girls, we decided it would be okay because they’ve shared a room in the past and now their parents don’t have to buy any extra things, like a blow dryer, curling iron, makeup and everything else.”
The twins are also adjusting well to being on their own and responsible for their decisions. “We do the things we have to do, like keep track of our time,” Vanessa said.
The Aggie softball team has gained two very talented players. Their past accomplishments in California, their work ethic, love of the sport and their family connection make them very strong members of the team.
Courtesy: New Mexico State University
