One of the great tandems in Colonial Valley Conference softball history is gearing for its final high school season at Robbinsville High, and someone has finally put into perspective why pitcher Lauren Fischer and catcher Becca Freeman are best friends.
“(Ravens coach Christine) Cabarle told us last year—after I made a really stupid joke, and Lauren started cracking up and no one else did — that ‘the only reason you two are friends is because Becca says the stupidest stuff and you laugh,’” Freeman said. “There’s a lot of truth in that.”
The chemistry between the two has created an era in Ravens history that all others will be measured by, at least in the near future.
As sophomores, “FreeFish” was the driving force in an undefeated season that led to 2011 NJSIAA Group II and Mercer County tournament championships. Last year, the Ravens reached the finals of both tournaments but fell to Allentown in the MCT and Pequannock in CJ II.
This season, they would love nothing better than to go out on top as their lifelong career as teammates reaches its climax.
“I can’t believe it!” Fischer said. “It is absolutely crazy how fast time flies by. I remember my first day as a freshman like it was yesterday, and now I’m a senior. It really is surreal, but we are all making the absolute most out of every second and making it a season we will never forget.”
“High school went by so fast, it’s hard to think that there are only a couple months left,” Freeman added. “It will be a bittersweet moment when I get to graduate. As for softball, it still feels like my freshman year. Being the oldest on the team doesn’t feel real, and all the memories I’ve made with this team will stay with me forever.”
New memories are on the horizon, of course. Freeman actually committed to Marist College of the MAAC her sophomore year, and nothing has happened since to change her mind. Fischer is headed to Seton Hall, where she will join forces with Nottingham senior shortstop Val Suto next fall.
Seeing as Poughkeepsie, N.Y., is only a 1-hour, 40-minute drive to South Orange, N.J., the two will still be within striking distance. But they won’t be partners on the softball field for the first time in their lives.
“Marist is somewhere I can see myself happy for four years of my life,” Freeman said. “Even though Lauren won’t be going with me, I’m happy that she won’t be too far away. And our coaches schedule games with each other in the fall and spring so I’m happy I will still be involved in her softball life.”
“Our coaches are very good friends so I will get to play against Becca every year…better start scouting!” Fischer said with a laugh. “It will definitely be weird without her but I know I will not lose her as a friend, and we will always stay in touch.”
Mercer County first became aware of the duo when they helped Robbinsville’s 12-year-old All-Star team to the Little League World Series finals. They continued to make their presence known in high school and are both in a semi-state of disbelief that this will be it.
“Even though we’ll play together in the summer, it’s a very new feeling to us that we have a timetable and a certain number of games we have left to play together,” Fischer said. “We are so competitive, even against each other. So when you put the two of us together on a field we do anything to win.
“Especially as a pitcher and catcher, we are forced to work together. So being that we both have such a competitive attitude is really making us fired up for this year. We have counted down the days since the fall and could not wait for the season to start.”
That’s what happens when teams fall one win short of two major championships.
“Lauren and I have been talking about this season since the last day of high school ball last year,” Freeman said. “Travel ball is always fun, but in high school ball you get to play toward a common goal as a team, rather than showcasing your talent. So high school ball is definitely something we look forward to every year.”
Especially this year, as Robbinsville has a bit of a chip on its shoulder and a hunger to prove itself all over again.
“You have no idea!” Freeman said. “Last year the only thing that people could say about us was ‘They are all hype, they can never win it again,’ and everyone wanted us to lose, no matter who we were playing. After coming so close last year, everyone wants to win that much more.”
Fischer agrees completely—which should come as no surprise.
“This season, we are hungrier than ever,” she said. “Especially since it is our last, we want to end it with a bang and leave tradition behind us. It is really important to us to set examples for the younger girls so that when we are gone they can carry the legacy.”
Softball, of course, is the thread between Freeman and Fischer that the public sees. But in their world, it’s only part of the equation. All the glittering statistics and successes on the diamond serve as nice conversation. Both feel, however, that if softball never entered their lives, they would still be calling each other BFFs.
“Becca and I have such similar personalities and always have so much fun together. Our families are even friends so I don’t think I would ever be able to get rid of her,” Fischer said with a laugh. “Even after we are done playing together, I know we will stay in touch and we will always be friends.”
“If me and Lauren didn’t play softball, I don’t doubt that we would have found each other,” said Freeman, whose second biggest concern in college aside from losing Fischer is finding a good pasta joint to eat at. “We have very similar personalities, which can make us argue a lot. But at the same time we get along better than any other friends that I know.”
Their friendship has not only been good for each other and the Robbinsville community, it has been nice for the entire Colonial Valley Conference. Both girls are friendly and funny with outgoing personalities. Their success has often brought them into the public eye throughout the county and state, and they have always represented their school and their town with the utmost class.
They will miss each other, and they will be missed once they graduate. And no one can put their relationship into perspective as well as the girls themselves.
“Lauren and I have been best friends since elementary school, so imagining doing anything in the past 18 years without her by my side seems like a scary thought,” Freeman said. “Whenever either of us are in a tough situation, on or off the field, we know we can go to each other for anything.”
“I honestly can not say enough about how lucky I am to have Becca,” Fischer said. “It’s kind of funny because we bicker like it’s our job but she is my go-to girl for anything. I know that no matter what, she will always have my back and support me through anything and she knows I will, too.”
Fischer said having Freeman as a friend and as a catcher was more than she could ever have asked for.
“If I have a bad day, she is always there to tell me a corny joke just to get me to smile, or bring back an old memory just to put me in a better mood,” Fischer said. “She’s honestly the best.”
It takes one to know one.
