Wright sisters pitch in on NHS frontline when not playing baseball for the Bruins
Continuing our series in which student journalists unearth sporting stories, Rachel Steinberg of News Associates speaks to twins from Rotherham who play baseball in Sheffield.
PITCHERS CAN be forgiven for doing double-takes when facing the Sheffield Bruins.
After all, most opposing lineups in the British Baseball League (BBL) do not feature identical twins.
Doctors Kelly and Kirstie Wright, 27, have played baseball in South Yorkshire for the better part of a decade.
Last week, the British Baseball Federation, the sport’s UK governing body, launched a new national women’s team and league.
By making the squad, the Rotherham-born sisters would mirror the success of rugby’s Tom and Ben Curry, athletics’ Nielsen sisters and the dynastic duo of footballer Phil Neville and his sister, netball’s Tracey Neville, by playing for Great Britain on the world stage.
“If you think about it, there aren’t that many twins who play sport anyway, so to be able to do it at a national level is just crazy,” said infielder Kelly.
Kirstie added: “It would be amazing.
“Just knowing that there’s always going to be someone there to support you.”
The Wrights are members of two rare groups in the UK.
According to the NHS, there were about 24,000 babies born with a twin in 2016, a figure just slightly higher than the 22,402 players BaseballSoftballUK reported across the country that same year.
Kelly is older – by about seven minutes – and was also the first to pick up a baseball glove.
Eight years ago, her partner, Josh, thought it would be fun to give the sport a go so they decided join the Sheffield Bladerunners together.
Little did he know the casual outing would turn into a family obsession.
Kelly recruited Kirstie, who is learning to pitch, after a few seasons.
The three now play together for the Bruins, formed in 2018 from what Kelly described as a “breakaway” group of Bladerunners who wanted to focus more on competition than development.
Kelly is general manager of the club, which won promotion to the AAA division of the Northern Baseball League in their rookie season and finished second overall in 2019.
The AAA is the top of three divisions in the Northern Baseball League.
Their 28-game season includes fixtures in Liverpool, Manchester and as far away as the Cartmel Valley on the edge of the Lake District.
Team-mates still confuse the twins – even airline pilot Josh, who has dated Kelly for ten years.
He has been living with both Wrights since March, when newly-qualified doctor Kirstie returned from medical school in Swansea.
Josh, 27, joked: “You get used to them! It’s been eye-opening. They do have different personalities.
“I’m guilty of occasionally shouting over to one and then realising its the other, especially when they’re playing baseball and everyone is in uniform.”
There is one way to tell the sisters apart, both on and off the diamond.
Kirstie explained: “I’m a bit more fiery and Kel’s a bit kinder and more laid back. But we do share a lot of characteristics!”
Those characteristics include a competitive streak and a lifelong dream of working in medicine.
Kelly said: “Apparently when we were younger we used to dress up in nurses’ outfits.
“When that Body Worlds exhibition opened both of us were like, ‘Mum! Mum! please can we go?”
Kelly, who has a PhD in cardiovascular science, is studying medicine at the University of Liverpool. Kirstie starts work at Prescot’s Whiston hospital in August.
The twins, the middle of four siblings, were the first in their immediate family to attend university.
They are still committed to their Sheffield club despite now living closer to Liverpool.
Kirstie is delighted her new job means being able to reunite with Kelly on the field, where she finds playing with her twin feels different than throwing the ball to anyone else.
It is an intrinsic dynamic the sisters believe will serve them post-pandemic, when they will add national team tryouts to their long list of shared memories.
“I think we sort of get each other more.
You feel more comfortable that someone you know really well and how they play is on the field with you,” said Kirstie.
Kelly agreed: “It’s like friendly competition.
“We’ll always make each other better.”