Twin softball sisters swing in Dominican Republic

An American youth softball team playing in the Dominican Republic last week had an Edge against its competition.

Make that two Edges.

Twin sisters Alissa and Kelsey Edge were selected to play seven games in the Caribbean for a national team assembled through the American Based Sports Abroad organization.

The Edge sisters are products of the Marysville-Pilchuck High School softball program, but their dad, Bernie Edge, is a La Conner alum who played baseball for the Braves.

“It’s been a lot of fun watching them develop and play,” he told the Weekly News Saturday night from Santo Domingo, where the Edges enjoyed Caribbean cuisine, sightseeing of Spanish colonial architecture and a visit to the famed Centro Leon Museum, noted for its exhibits of Dominican ecology, art and history.

The softball was equally memorable.

“The games,” said Edge, “have been really interesting and competitive. We played the (Dominican) national team on Friday and Saturday. We lost both games, one 5-3 and the other 11-5.”

Not a bad showing for a U.S. team whose roster – other than the Edges – had not played together prior to arriving in the Dominican Republic.

“The players,” Edge said, “are from all over the U.S., from Texas, Arizona, Mississippi, Maryland, Michigan, Kansas and Washington.”

The Edges were chosen for the Dominican trip and tournament based on their play at Marysville-Pilchuck and profiles posted on a major softball recruiting website.

Alissa, who has expressed interest in a sports medicine career, can play anywhere on the diamond but her primary position is catcher. Kelsey plays a combination of pitcher, first base-outfield and is interested in the emergency medical field.

Because of their versatility, both have been healthy additions to the American lineup.

“They sent us an email,” Bernie Edge said of ABSA, “and asked us if we might be interested in traveling abroad with the program.”

In addition to the Dominican Republic, ABSA teams regularly travel to Europe and Australia. The trips introduce players to different cultures while they represent the U.S. in international competition.

The Edges and their teammates say the Dominican visit has been “truly a worldly experience,” one marked by outstanding hospitality amid sweeping seascapes, sandy beaches and views of Pico Duarte, the Caribbean’s tallest mountain.

The Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, has long been a baseball hotbed, having sent nearly 100 players to the major leagues. Softball is also gaining popularity, with establishment of a national team complex there to enhance the sport’s growth.

And the Edge sisters, thanks to ABSA, have literally played their part on that score.