Next year will be quite different for Deanna and Dana Moser.
The fraternal twins are seniors on the Archbishop Ryan High School softball team, and they’ve been best friends since the time they were born.
They’ve also never played softball without the other one. Whether it was as kids, on travel teams or on the Ragdolls, the girls always had a teammate they knew they could depend on.
But next year, things are changing.
Deanna, a catcher, is headed to Holy Family, where she’ll continue her softball career. Dana, an outfielder, will do the same, but she’s going to Stockton University in Galloway Township, New Jersey, about an hour away from their Parkwood home. Both are going to enter college undecided on a major.
They’ll always be there for each other, but for the first time, they won’t be together.
“We talk every day now, we share everything, we share a room, and we’re always talking to each other,” Dana said. “We’ll stay best friends, but it will be weird not being together. It’s the first time it’s ever been this way.”
“We love talking, and that’s not going to change,” Deanna said. “I know I’ll be looking for her, but I think we’ll still talk every day. I’m glad we had senior year to play together.”
They didn’t just play together. They won together.
The seniors helped a young Ryan team go undefeated in Catholic League play and sweep through the playoffs en route to the Catholic League championship.
Ryan defeated Conwell-Egan 10-6 in the finals. It was the fifth time since 2014 that the Ragdolls won the championship. There was no championship last year, so that’s quite the impressive streak.
Both twins had a hit. Deanna drove home two runs while Dana knocked in one. She also had a spectacular play in center field when she robbed a Conwell-Egan hitter of a home run by pulling the ball back from over the fence.
“It was great, we won it when we were freshmen, our team did, and it means so much more to win it your senior year,” Deanna said. “I honestly think we were the best team last year, we had a lot of very good seniors, so we were sad when we didn’t play, but we’re happy we did it this year.”
Dana will always remember it, not just because she walked off her home field for the final time with a championship, but she also had the play of the day.
“After it happened, everyone was really excited,” Dana said. “It was actually one of the best moments of my life. I got it, then I look up and saw all my teammates hugging me. Great moment. We got back in the dugout and the energy was so high. That inning, hitting, we did great. We knew we had it.”
“It’s funny before the game, we were talking and someone said she’s going to rob someone’s home run,” Deanna said. “Then the ball got hit and I thought, ‘Oh my God, another home run,’ because they’re a good team and they can hit, they had a home run in the first inning. Then I was like, ‘Oh my God, she got it!’ I was so excited for her.”
The win means the Ragdolls season continues. They are the Catholic League champions and the District 12 champions, so they’ll move on to play in the state tournament against an opponent to be determined.
The main goal of every year is to win the Catholic League crown, and that mission has been accomplished. But now they’re going to go as far as they can to continue playing together.
And they’re not just happy about playing with each other. They are just happy to stay around this team, which has enjoyed much more than just success this spring.
“It felt so good, it’s indescribable,” said Deanna, who along with her teammates celebrated by swimming at shortstop Dana Bell’s house. “Our team is so close. Even the freshmen, I know I was a senior, but I look at them as equals. Probably out of my four years, it’s the closest team. We are all friends in softball. We developed relationships in every grade.
“This year just worked really well, everyone who played the field, we were so close. Being friendly helped us win. We had support on the field and in the dugout. A lot of stress was taken off because of that. In the dugout, people were cheering. Everyone wanted the other girl to be successful. No jealousy at all, it’s a great team.”
Next year, the Mosers won’t be teammates, but they’ll stay close.
They’re close with their family, so there will be a lot of trips home, not only to hang out with each other, but to catch games of their brother, Billy, who plays football, basketball and baseball.
And they’ll never stop being best friends.
“I think we’ll always talk all the time and we’re going to talk all the time next year,” Deanna said.
“I’m going to school and my roommate is a girl from our travel team, so I think she’ll be up a lot,” Dana said. “Not to see me, but to see her! We’ll always be best friends and we’ll definitely see each other a lot. It will be weird not seeing her on the field, but we’ll always see each other.”
