Karly and Anna Messina: “It’s fun to play against her”

By Dorian Alerte | May 3, 2023

On the field, they’re competitors. 

Off the field, they’re sisters.

As Karly and Anna Messina got set for what would be their third interconference meeting with each other, they could not help but feel excited.

On Apr. 11, the two sisters faced off against one another for the third time in three seasons. This time the older sister, Anna got the last laugh, as the Ramapo Roadrunners won both games of the doubleheader 4-3 and 6-1 over the Kean Cougars.

The two sisters grew up playing softball with each other while watching their older sister play softball at the collegiate level as well.

“We’ve both been playing since we were five,” Anna said. “We always watched her games and once we started playing, she was our coach and our dad was our coach as well. It was always kind of like a full family thing.”

“We both looked up to her [our older sister] and wanted to play because of her,” Karly said.

At Cherokee High School, the sisters played together on the same team and were there for each other. 

They played together until Anna graduated, but Karly did not have to worry about playing a season without her sister due to her senior year being cut short due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I didn’t really have my freshman year of college, so we kind of started college in the same year,” Anna said. “It’s always weird with her not being on the team with me, but it’s fun to play against her.”

“I didn’t have my last season in high school because of Covid,” Karly said. “I didn’t have to experience [playing] without Anna, and honestly I’m kind of thankful that I didn’t have to.”

Karly decided to play softball in the same conference as her sister, but this time for a different team- the Kean Cougars. This provided an opportunity for Karly to pave her own lane.

“I think I did want to step away from playing with Anna, and it was a mutual decision,” Karly said. “As much as we love playing together, it was a good opportunity to separate and live our own lives. I feel like it’s fun to have that competition between each other instead of playing together.”

The sisters find it funny to both be rooting for each other, but at the same time wanting their perspective teams to win.

“I always think the Kean games are our favorite games,” Anna said. “Our family is there and we’re always looking at each other when we’re warming up. It’s funny because I obviously want to beat them, but I also want her to do well. Since I slap, I’m always hitting her at third base, it’s annoying, but playing against her is fun for sure.”

Both Karly and Anna had effective days, as Karly collected four hits, a scored run, and two runs batted in, including the single that put the Cougars on the board at the bottom of the first, while Anna collected two hits.

Following the doubleheader, the sisters shared a hug on the field for what could be their final time playing softball against each other.

Their all-time record against each other sits at 3-3.

“It’s kind of funny because we’ve played them three years in a row now,” Anna said. “The first time they swept us, last year we split, and then this year we swept them. It’s cool because we’ll congratulate each other on everything.”

The next time that these two sisters may have the opportunity to break the tie may be in the New Jersey Athletic Conference playoffs. They’ll see who has the last laugh.

“You can look forward to a good competition,” Karly said. “Even though it’s Messina versus Messina, it’s also Ramapo versus Kean, and I feel like we are two very hard teams to beat, so playing against each other is going to be neck-and-neck the whole way.”

---