Meet the ‘baby giraffes,’ Villanova’s softball-playing sisters

On Sunday, with two on and Villanova two runs away from a 9-1 run-rule win over DePaul, Villanova head coach Bridget Orchard called for a pinch hitter.

No. 14, redshirt sophomore utility player Brooklyn Ostrowski, stepped back into the dugout. No. 1, freshman outfielder Madison Ostrowski, stepped in.

Neither Ostrowski is a consistent starterfor 31-19 Villanova, and, with only so many opportunities, you occasionally get subbed for your sister.

“I don’t even care [when it happens], I’m happy,” Madison said. “I want her to get an at-bat or she wants me to get an at-bat. [We’re] just happy for each other.”

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Sunday isn’t the only time one has pinch-hit for the other. In early February, Brooklyn pinch hit for Madison. Twice, they’ve appeared in the starting lineup together, and they’ve batted back-to-back three times. Against Wisconsin in late February, Madison, who’s hitting .152 with two doubles and eight RBIs in 28 games, singled to score Brooklyn for her third collegiate RBI.

Playing time disputes can lead to bad blood between teammates — let alone siblings. The Ostrowskis are competitive with each other off the field, but don’t bring it onto the diamond.

“I feel like if I do bad, and she does good, then I’m doing good,” Madison said. “Her successes feel like they’re mine, and my successes feel like they’re hers. And when she fails, I feel bad too.”

Her sister feels the same way.

“There was one weekend this year where I didn’t have the best weekend, [but] she was lighting it up,” Brooklyn said. “I just couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.”

Brooklyn’s the older sibling and acts like it, looking out for her little sister. She answers most questions first, but Madison, a little less than two years younger, adds details with a shared sense of humor.

The two argued frequently when they were younger, sharing a room and sleeping in bunk beds, but were close by high school, combining for success in softball and volleyball at Port Chester High School in New York.

“Big O,” as local papers called Brooklyn in high school, is a right-handed power hitter, while Madison (“Little O”) relies more on her speed, teaching herself how to hit left-handed so she could slap the ball to the left side of the infield and beat the throw to first. She’s grown and can now hit for power, but still swings from the left side.

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Brooklyn committed as a freshman to play for Orchard at Fordham, and followed the coach to Villanova. Madison had a more traditional recruiting process. She knew she wanted to play in the Northeast but took many visits.

Brooklyn was far from subtle during phone calls with Madison from her Villanova dorm, repeatedly bringing up the Wildcats even as her younger sister discussed visits with Villanova’s Big East rivals. When Madison committed, Brooklyn was ecstatic.

“I was crying for days,” Brooklyn said. “I was so excited.”

For Madison, the decision was simple.

“I knew it was either play with her or play against her,” Madison said. “With the way we were teammates together for high school, and being given another opportunity to do that again, I knew I couldn’t pass it up.”

The sisters’ bond is fun for their teammates, too. Brooklyn is close with the freshman class, helping bridge the gap on a team with four seniors and three graduate students. Teammates joke about their similarities, calling them “baby giraffes” because of their long strides when they run.

“There was one time we were behind a fence, and [senior catcher Ally Jones] was like, ‘Oh, the baby giraffes can’t get out of the zoo,’” Brooklyn said. “[It was so funny that] my mom surprised us this weekend by giving us a stuffed baby giraffe. Ally was like, ‘You have to bring that to every trip now.’”

College softball isn’t always easy, though. Madison’s adapting to a new environment in college and to a higher level of softball than ever before, but her older sister lights up when talking about Madison’s successes.

“Freshman year is hard, but she’s taking it like a champ,” Brooklyn said.

In many ways, Brooklyn is having a second freshman season herself. She started 11 games in her first year at Villanova, notching a pinch-hit three-run home run in a 3-0 win at Butler. She was poised for a bigger role as a sophomore, but those plans were crushed in fall ball, when she tore three ligaments in her knee covering second base.

Orchard noted that Brooklyn could have quit or chosen to stay home, but she was there every chance she could, charting pitches, taking video, and working the radar gun from the stands.

The first two years of college were tough for Brooklyn for another reason, too — it was the first time she’d been separated from her built-in support in her sister. As she went through the injury and physical therapy, Madison watched from a distance.

“It was really hard because I felt like I was feeling her pain too,” Madison said, adding that her first reaction was anger over the injury. “It was definitely hard, but it was cool [to see] how, instead of moping around and being upset at the world, she spun it around and used it to her advantage.”

Brooklyn said she struggled mentally and with her injury throughout the year. Through talking with Villanova’s sports psychologist, Dr. Rick Neff, she found a new career path, pivoting from a pre-med track to psychology.

However, the injury did have a silver lining — Brooklyn received a medical redshirt, meaning she has one extra year to play with Madison. Brooklyn, who’s hitting .208 in with a .541 OPS in 34 games this season, already has two Big East championship rings. While she’s taking it one game at a time, she’s already dreaming of how the three she could win with Madison would feel.

“It’s like no other,” Brooklyn says, turning to her sister. “I can’t wait for you to feel that feeling.”