Twin sisters Shaina and Miranda Ervin sat side by side on a bench outside of Reynolds Coliseum, the only distinguishable physical characteristic between them being their hairstyles — Shaina with her long blond hair pulled back, and Miranda’s chin-length bob kept out of her eyes with a short ponytail.
As she talked, Shaina impulsively reached out and grabbed Miranda’s hand, who held it, resting on her knee.
“I can always hear her cheering for me,” Shaina said. “Just having someone there who believes in you 110 percent and doesn’t doubt you — I can look at her and I just know that she’s proud of me — something as small as that goes a long way. We love each other so much, and we’re not just sisters — we’re best friends.”
Miranda grinned and poked her sister.
“Cheeseball,” she said. “You’re being a cheeseball.”
Shaina agreed, but continued seriously.
“It’s a good time to know that I’m making her proud,” she said.
Turning on the giggling Miranda, Shaina slapped her sister’s knee with the hand that had before lovingly reached out to her.
“Shut up, asshole,” Shaina said.
Both in their senior years, the pitcher/catcher duo has played ball together since the two were 7 years old. They played basketball and softball through high school, Shaina said, until they had to decide which one they would be better at in college.
“Our goal was to play at a Division I school for softball or basketball,” Shaina said. “And then we just worked hard at it every single day.”
Miranda’s unique style
While Shaina has been pitching from the beginning, Miranda originally started at third base.
“I played third base until I was a junior in high school and our catcher tore her ACL, but I had always caught Shay when she practiced,” Miranda said. “I would go with her every Saturday to her pitching lesson, and I never got any instruction on how to be a catcher. I just did it. So I caught in high school ball, and then I caught in summer ball. That’s when Coach Navas saw me catching and wanted me to catch instead of play third base.”
Miranda said that while coach Lisa Navas taught her the basics of being a catcher, her style is her own.
“I don’t have the right technique for anything,” Miranda said. “I do things differently from some people. My height is a factor. Even with hitting, I don’t have the right mechanics. I just find a way to get it done.”
Playing together
Miranda said she’s been hitting off Shaina since they started playing. The only competition between the two, she said, is in batting practice.
“She has a harder time striking me out,” Miranda said. “When I go up there, I just smile because she tries so hard to strike me out, but she can’t. I usually hit it. Most people can’t hit off her, but I can because I’ve been hitting off of her for a really long time, like forever.”
There are advantages, Shaina and Miranda said, to playing with “your best friend.”
“She’s my constant support. She knows how to reach me or what to say if I don’t get a hit or when I do something bad. She knows what to say to bring me out. She’s always there for me if I need some advice for anything; even if it’s just a word, she can tell me so I can bring my confidence back up,” Miranda said. “That’s a big advantage, especially for me. Like right now, I’m not doing so hot, so she’s always been there, and she helps me forget about that and look to the next at-bat or the next play. That I really am grateful for.”
Shaina said she’s never seen playing with her sister negatively.
“It’s definitely easier to play together,” Shaina said. “We have the most fun when we are together. When I’m pitching and I shake her off, she knows what pitch I want. We’re just on the same page, which helps my rhythm. And she knows me left and right, so I have so much confidence in her as a catcher.”
Family support
The sisters’ softball games have always been a family affair, they said, as their parents always encouraged them in sports and came to almost every game.
“They’re at every tournament. They fly everywhere we go. They support us 110 percent. They take their vacation time to come watch us play,” Miranda said. “They split it up in the spring so they can be at every game, and in the summer when they could actually take a nice vacation they come where we are.”
Future plans
Yet whether their parents will be able to come to softball games after graduation is yet to be determined.
Ideally, Shaina said, she and Miranda would be able to play professionally together. She said it would be nice to have an established career, but she has no set plans for the future.
While Shaina said she’s not sure what she wants to do when she graduates, Miranda has two specific goals: become a broadcaster and a coach at N.C. State.
“I would love to coach here and bring what I’ve learned from the program and my talents,” Miranda said. “I think I would make a good coach, just with my personality and how I relate to people who want to learn. I could help coach Navas and this program get even farther.”
Navas is aware of Miranda’s desire to coach.
“She should be able to help us out. She’s learning the game inside and out,” Navas said.
“She’ll do something in the realm of people. She’s got a big heart, and she’ll do something with teaching and coaching. She’s good with people.”
For Shaina, Navas said she sees the “professional realm.”
“I know Shaina’s been thinking about law school, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the route she takes,” she said.
Navas said Miranda and Shaina each bring different strengths to the team.
“Miranda has a lot of personality,” Navas said. “She’s like a big kid. Shaina is a more demanding person. That’s a kid who’s a winner. She hates to lose.”
While the fate of the pair after graduation is uncertain, as they finish their senior season, the twin sisters said playing together makes everything better.
“We always wanted to play together because we grew up playing together,” Shaina said. “It was fun because we got to play together, so we couldn’t imagine it any other way.”