For Violet and Lily Marta, a shared passion for softball has taken the two sisters to a national league of play.
The Marta sisters couldn’t be more different when it comes to softball. When it comes to their strengths where one excels, the other struggles. Violet Marta, 11, is strong. She pitches fast and hits hard. Nine-year-old Lily Marta, on the other hand, is quick and agile stealing bases and tracking balls down.
Despite their different skillsets, both Moorestown girls flourish while playing the game, which has earned the Marta sisters a coveted place on NorthEast American teams at the USSSA Futures All-American Games at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla. The girls will compete in the national competition from July 30 to Aug. 5.
The games divide the country into eight regions with the top 26 players from each region competing against the best from other areas of the country. Violet will pitch on the 10U NorthEast National team while Lily will play the outfield on the 9U NorthEast American team.
For both girls, the prospect of competing with and against the best in the country is a simultaneously exciting and nerve-wracking.
“I’m going to be nervous because there’s going to be a lot of great pitchers there, and they’re going to be hard to hit off,” Violet said.
Both girls attribute much of their softball prowess to their father Greg’s careful tutelage.
Greg said he’s always been a baseball fan, and when he had daughters, he wanted them to share in his passion. So, he got the girls playing softball, even creating a “Marta Dome” in the family garage with equipment to practice when the weather isn’t conducive to outdoor practice.
A few years ago, Greg said he asked his daughters to just give the game a chance. He told them if they didn’t like it, they were free to pursue other passions.
“Now that they’re older and they’re playing well, it’s definitely much more of their decision and for the love of the game,” Greg said.
Today, both girls said their favorite part of the game is hitting and enjoy the thrill of competition.
For Greg, the key has been teaching his daughters how to play to their strengths. He said Lily sees Violet hit home runs and wants to do the same, or Violet wants to run as fast as Lily.
“The trick is managing both completely different skillsets and expectations,” Greg said.
To date, the girls have always played on the same team, just having finished up their season with the Lady Patriots softball organization. Their mother Danielle said the Lily is usually first in the lineup because she gets on base. Then, Violet is usually third in the lineup.
“She’ll get up and I’ll always yell [to] her to bring Lily home,” Danielle said.
The pair practice four days a week including time with their team, at home in the “Marta Dome” and going to batting cages. Greg said he had an inkling his daughters were talented, so he began asking around about getting the USSSA Futures All-American Games tryouts.
In the winter, he started clocking Violet’s pitches at around 52 miles per hour, and he said looking at some of the results coming out of the other regional tryouts, he knew her pitches were competitive.
Ultimately, at the NorthEast tryouts, Violet pitched the third fastest out of more than 200 girls trying out that day. When the results were announced over Memorial Day, the family was thrilled to learn that not only one but both girls had made it onto national teams.
John Murray, Violet’s coach on her new team the South Jersey Mystics, said getting to represent their region is no small feat, having taken players to the tryouts before who haven’t made the cut.
“It’s quite an opportunity for the kids to see how they match up,” Murray said.
For both girls, there’s an immense sense of excitement for their sister. Violet said her sister’s ability to switch hit is truly special and her agility are both special talents.
“She’s very tough,” Violet said of Lily. “She always, if something goes wrong, she can always fix it, and she’s very fast.”
For Lily, her sister’s greatest strength is the attitude she brings to the game.
“She usually likes to think on the positive side,” Lily said.
Their upcoming time with the Mystics will mark the first time the girls will spend their seasons on different teams, but in the meantime, the Future All-American Games will be the girls first chance to cheer each other on from the sidelines. Greg said he hopes if there’s one thing his daughters take away from the competition, it’s that hard work pays off.
“Fifty years from now, they’ll look back on it and say, ‘Wow that was incredible,” Greg said. “It’s a major family event and major family milestone.”
