Aaron and Austin Nola’s mom prepares for a nerve-racking NLCS

SAN DIEGO — It has been a busy few days for Stacie and A.J. Nola. Their sons, Padres catcher Austin Nola and Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola, are each in the midst of a postseason run. Stacie and A.J. have been traveling across the country in an attempt to catch as many games as they can. It is an exciting time, but they are perpetually jet-lagged.

Initially, when the Padres and Phillies each clinched a spot in the National League wild-card round, Stacie joked that Austin and Aaron might face each other at some point. But she knew the teams they’d have to beat to get there and felt it might be a long shot. Nine days later, what was once a joke has become a reality.

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On Tuesday night, her sons will be in opposing dugouts in San Diego when the Phillies take on the Padres in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series. On Wednesday night, Aaron will be on the mound, facing his big brother for the third time in his career, and for the first time in the postseason.

When the final out was recorded in the Padres-Dodgers game on Saturday night, and Padres players started sprinting onto the field in celebration, it suddenly hit her. Stacie turned to face A.J.

“Do you realize that one of our sons will be in the World Series?” she asked him.

“I didn’t even think of that,” he said.

“It’s not just that they’ll face each other,” she replied. “One of them is going to the World Series.”

This type of scenario is not covered in a parenting book, and Stacie is still figuring how to handle watching one son on the mound while the other is at the plate. The Nolas raised their sons in Baton Rouge, La., and both went on to play for LSU. At first, there wasn’t much overlap. Aaron was called up by the Phillies in 2015, and Austin, who is four years older, made his debut with the Seattle Mariners in 2019. But in 2020, Austin was traded to the Padres — who play in the National League — which increased the likelihood that the two brothers would face each other in a game.

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On Aug. 21, 2021 in San Diego, it finally happened. Aaron struck out Austin with a 96-mph fastball in the first at-bat, induced a pop-out in the second at-bat, and walked him.

On June 24, 2022, they faced off again in San Diego. This time, Austin had the last laugh. Aaron had held the Padres scoreless until the sixth inning when his brother stepped up to the plate. On an 0-2 pitch, Austin hit a high, 92.7-mph fastball to right field for a single to drive in Eric Hosmer from second. It proved to be the difference in a 1-0 Padres win.

“I’ll hear about it tonight,” the Phillies pitcher said after the game. “He runs his mouth a lot.”

Stacie doesn’t know how to react in these moments. Is it best to cheer? Is it best to not cheer? Instead, she just watches, taking it all in. She tries to be as diplomatic as she can. Stacie doesn’t own an Austin Nola or an Aaron Nola jersey, and prefers to wear “neutral colors,” as in any color that is not red, white, brown or yellow. A.J. will wear both of his son’s jerseys, alternating which goes on top.

Unlike her husband, who is a more vocal fan, Stacie internalizes the stress of watching her sons on baseball’s biggest stage. When she’s watching Aaron pitch at home, she’ll pull up MLB’s Gameday app on her iPad so she can see what happens before it unfolds on TV. She doesn’t bring her iPad to the ballpark, which makes the experience more stressful.

“I get nervous,” she said, “because I can’t see it on my iPad first. I’m on the edge of my seat most of the time. When I’m at home, I can handle it a little better. Thank God he only pitches once every five games.

“The NLCS is going to be nerve-racking. Hopefully, somebody wraps this up at five games. We don’t have an off day in between Games 5 and 6. I’m not sure we can do that time change. One way or another, somebody has to do it in five.”

Stacie says both of her sons are in this position because of their strong work ethic but adds that they bring different energies to the field. Aaron is calm and quiet, while Austin is loud and vivacious.

After the Phillies clinched a spot in the NLCS with a win against the Braves on Saturday, she noticed that Aaron gave a small fist pump. She was so excited that she rewound her DVR to record it on her phone.

“We don’t normally see that,” she said. “It’s fun to see when he actually shows an emotion.”

Regardless of the outcome, the Nolas are proud of Austin and Aaron, who will both be playing in the National League Championship Series for the first time.

“It breaks my heart that someone has to lose,” Stacie said. “But it’ll be a good brotherly fight. We’ll see who wins.”