Senior twin-sisters Heidi and Emily Gomez are finishing their last softball Conference season this year.
Emily and Heidi are a part of the most successful softball team ever in the history of Eastern Nazarene College. The team finished the regular season with a 13-5 record and garnered the second playoffs-seed.
The Gomez sisters transferred to ENC from Briarcliffe College in Long Island, New York, in August 2015 to join the softball team. Emily explains, “First we came here just for softball, but when we visited, we fell in love with the beautiful campus.”
The season is going well for both sisters. Pitcher Heidi Gomez won five out of the six games that she pitched. “Unfortunately, the only game we lost when I was pitching was on our Senior Day against Roger Williams.”
First Base Infielder Emily Gomez who played in all 18 conference games thinks a bit more self-critically about her performances this season when she says, “I think I haven’t been good at batting, but I have only had one or two errors on the field.”
The sisters started playing baseball when they were five years old and transferred to softball at the age of seven. Being on a team together in college is a lot of fun for the twins.
The sisters dorm together on campus as well, saying that “it feels like at home. You do not have to worry about stepping in anybody’s space, and you can do whatever you want without feeling embarrassed.”
On the softball field, being sisters helps the two a lot. Heidi states, “On the field, we have better communication than many other players because we have played together for so long, and we know how to bring each other up if it is not going well.”
One Heidi’s favorite moments in her college softball career was when the team had to qualify for the playoffs her sophomore year. According to her, “The field was packed, Brad Zarges got rally towels, and all professors came to our game.” For Emily, the Spring Break trip to Florida this year was a lot of fun. “It was very competitive. We beat many good teams and went to Disney Land.”
The sisters balance each other out really well. Emily describes Heidi as the louder, more outgoing sister who likes to do many activities. She notes, “Without her, I would not be as social as I am.” However, when Heidi talks about Emily she describes her as a more studious and quiet person. One example of their personalities happened recently on one of the first Sundays with good weather this year. On that beautiful day, Heidi went out climbing trees while Emily stayed on campus doing homework.
Next school year will be the first time the two will be separated since birth. Emily is starting medical school at the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions and Heidi will stay at ENC for another semester to finish one more class and a student teaching course. They say that the year “will be super hard.”