Sumrall softball coach Dodie Robertson had to fight back tears at the start of the 2021 high school season.
They weren’t tears of sadness but rather from pride as the moment finally arrived that her three daughters, Lilli, Londyn and Ella Robertson, were all simultaneously playing on the same softball team for the first and only time in their lives.
Lilli is the team’s senior shortstop and has been starting for the last four years. Londyn, a junior, starts in centerfield and, like her older sister, has been a regular starter since her freshman year. However, their youngest sister, Ella, who’s just in the seventh grade, earned a starting spot in the lineup at second base. The sisters share this rare experience with their mom and head coach of Sumrall, Dodie, as well as their dad, Jonathan, who is an assistant coach on the team.
“We have been waiting on this for a long time,” Dodie said. “We talked about it. We just were thinking in our head, ‘You know Ella is going to be there right before they graduate,’ but then you think is she going to be good enough to play since she is a seventh-grader. The idea was always there, but we weren’t sure if (Ella) was going to be ready to play at that level. She’s a hard worker, and she has earned that spot.”
For Lilli, taking the field with her sisters has made her final high school season even more special.
“It’s probably the best thing that I could imagine because with Ella at second and Londyn at center, I know if the ball is hit up the middle that it’s going to get caught,” Lilli said. “I have so much confidence in them. We always push each other harder than we push anyone else.”
Like Lilli, Londyn also enjoys the rare occasion of truly sharing the game of softball with her entire family.
“We all have such a good relationship with each other,” Londyn said. “Being out there with not just both my sisters, but both my parents coaching is pretty cool. Not many get to experience it.
“Growing up, we have always talked about how Ella will get to play with all of us for one year. It’s pretty cool for us all to be out there. We are in the middle of the field, so it’s pretty special.”
Of course, some might assume that the sisters have gotten the opportunity to start because they are the coaches’ kids. In fact, that not’s the case at all, as all three of the sisters choose to only refer to their parents as simply “Coach” when they are on the softball field to avoid any assumptions of favoritism.
“When we are out here, they are not my parents,” Lilli said. “They are my coaches. A lot of people may say that we play just because they are the coaches. We work really hard, we work hard at home, we work hard at the field and we work hard in the offseason. We just always say coach because we all want to be on the same level playing field and not have any advantages.”
They also back it up with their talent as Lilli, who is committed to Southwest Community College, is currently batting .559 and has hit two home runs, while Londyn, who’s also receiving interest from college scouts, is batting .333 and has two triples this season.
Yet, the youngest Robertson has had quite the start to her career as she has batted .300 and has yet to record her first strikeout. At the same time, Ella has made just one error in her 11 starts at second base. Ella’s quick and early success was somewhat of a surprise for both of her sisters but by no means unexpected.
“(With) fielding, there is no doubt that she is right where everyone else (and with) hitting, I would’ve thought that she would have struggled this year hitting, but she hasn’t,” Lilli said. “She’s moved up to the second batter in the lineup because she is going to put it into play. She’s not going to strike out; she will put into play and make something happen.”
“She plays older than what her age is,” Londyn said. “She has the ability of an older person because of how much work she has put in. “(Her confidence) helps her be out there. She knows she can be out there and do it. She deserves to be out there.”
It only makes sense that Ella has been able to develop early since for most of her life, she’s played with her older sisters and their older teammates. Ella would often have to wait and stay at the high school practices because the entire family needed to be at softball practice. Instead of just sitting in the dugout, Ella took reps with the varsity team and also go get all of the foul balls.
“(Ella) has been playing ball since she could walk,” Dodie said. “When we could come out and practice with Lilli and Londyn, she’s out here practicing with them too. She has always been practicing with the older ones when she was little, even at high school practice because she had to stay every day while we’re practicing. Even when she wasn’t on the team, we threw her out there, and she took reps with the rest of them. She is used to it, and she’s used to the girls (on the team).
“She was usually the foul ball chaser if she wasn’t out there working with them. She has a real strong arm. She’s got really good footwork. She’s just a natural for the infield.”
According to Ella, the hardest adjustment she’s had to make is getting over her nerves.
“It’s hard to describe, but it’s a great feeling really just to be out there with my older sisters,” Ella said. “I always thought that I was going to get to start when I was in the seventh grade. I thought it in my head, but I really don’t think it was going to happen because there is always so many people in the upper class.
“I’m always trying to prove that even though I’m a seventh-grader that I should be out there. I think (my sisters) are a good support to not help me be as nervous. I think I do better with them out there.”
The sisters occasionally butt heads. Ella traditionally plays shortstop like her sister Lilli, and jokes that she’ll take her job if she slips up too much. In the end, it’s an experience none of them would trade.
“We butt heads a lot, but it’s because we love each other,” Lilli said. “We do argue. I push Londyn and Ella harder than anyone else because I know how good they are and how good they can be.
“I’m glad that we are at the right age where we can play together. This is the first and only year that me and Ella will ever be on the same team. I’m just blessed that God allows us all to play together because it’s the best thing that I could ever imagine.”
