FRIENDS FOR LIFE
Their goofy faces crack each other up. The special celebratory handshakes. The crazy dancing on trips to the beach.
These are some of the special moments that Molly Shasteen and Morgan Hatch talk about.
“There is not hardly a moment that we are not together,” Hatch said. “We have been lifelong best friends. We have a lot of fun. We are just crazy together.”
Oh, andtheydooneother thing together — play softball. When the region playoffs begin tonight, they will try to lead Timber Creek (21-5), ranked third in the Sentinel’s Super Six, past host Vero Beach in a quarterfinal matchup at 7.
Shasteen and Hatch have been teammates since they were 7 years old and played for the Rangers in the East Orange Little League. As they have grown, so has their friendship — from Little League, to travel ball, to Timber Creek, where Shasteen is the senior second baseman and Hatch the senior first baseman.
The two have signed to play at Stetson and plan to major in business management.
“We both enjoy playing softball so much,” Shasteen said. “Honestly, I couldn’t imagine what it would be like playing without her.”
They do schoolwork together, shop together. On Saturday nights, they often go to Bithlo to watch mudbogging. After they graduate high school, they will join their families on a cruise to the Bahamas.
“It’s good to have your best friend standing next to you, when you are playing a sport or doing anything,” Hatch said.
Hatch will tell you about the crazy dancing Shasteen does to the beat of the music in the car when they are on the way to the beach.
Whenever an opponent makes an out or a big play is made, Shasteen and Hatch walk up to each other and celebrate with a high-five, low-five hand slap. Then they jump into each other’s sides, bumping at the hips.
“They are like sisters,” junior third baseman Rachel Minier said. “They are always thinking the same thing. They can finish each other’s sentences. If I didn’t know them, I would still be able to tell they were best friends by the way they look at each other andmake each other laugh.”
Timber Creek coach Ste- ven Soubasis has had other players who were close friends, but in his 11 years as the Wolves’ head coach, he never had two players go to the same college to continue their careers.
“It’s definitely going to be different not having them here next year,” Soubasis said. “We won’t have their leadership. Theyhave a special bond.”
Hatch, the Wolves’ No. 3 hitter, homered in the district final, a 4-3 loss to East River. She has a .388 batting average with a team-best eight homers and 24 RBIS. Shasteen, who hits No. 2 in the lineup and is a left-handed slap hitter, has a .338 average with19 runs scored.
When Hatch opened the season in what she called a “huge slump,” Shasteen helped her get through it.
“She really helped me with my mental attitude,” Hatch said. “She always managed to cheer me up so I went into the batter’s box with a better attitude.”
Said Shasteen: “Whenever one of us is down, all we do is look at each other, make a funny face and we’ll start cracking up. It’s good to have someone there you can count on.”