FLASHES OF RED, WHITE AND BLUE

It was a hot and muggy fall afternoon in Burleson, Texas. The sun beat down on Centennial High School’s infield dirt as Madi Sue Montgomery stood at shortstop, just inside the outfield grass that still held its deep green hue from the spring and summer.

Taylor Lynch stepped into the batter’s box at home plate clad in a maroon jersey that featured “Red Oak” in bold white letters on the front and a white No. 6 on the back.

To those that didn’t know them, it was just another routine at-bat in a meeting between the high schools of Lynch and Montgomery. But to keen observers, the red, white and blue Texas Glory glove that Montgomery wore at short was the same one Lynch wore when she took the field in the bottom of the inning.

Although they were in opposite dugouts during high school contests, the two always saw themselves as teammates first. By using their travel-ball gloves, the two made sure the whole world knew it, too.

“Everybody knew we were teammates because we used our red, white and blue gloves,” Lynch recalled. “Those weren’t even our school colors.”

The meetings between the two in high school never fell at critical junctions in the season, which allowed for more freedom between the travel ball teammates.

“It was really nice playing her in high school,” Montgomery said. “It was never during districts so we didn’t necessarily care all that much when played against each other.”

Remembering those days spent in the pounding Texas heat brought smiles to the faces of both OSU players as they reflected on just how far they had come together and how they already knew they’d be teammates again for years to come.

“(Recruiting) started early for both of us,” Montgomery recalled. “I committed to OSU during my sophomore year.”

“In December,” Lynch added. “Because I committed in January, and that’s the only reason I remember it.”

Both of the talented Texans winding up in Stillwater was not something they’d planned. Like most great things in life, the individual journeys that led them both to Oklahoma State is a story that seemed to be written in the stars.

“We didn’t think we’d necessarily end up at the same spot,” Montgomery said. “But knowing her family and my family, we both knew that we wanted to stay close so there was a slight chance. But it wasn’t a ‘We’re going to the same place’ type of thing. It just happened.”

The way Montgomery and Lynch constantly found themselves in each other’s lives seemed to be a strange coincidence. Time and time again, the two were side-byside at major moments, none more so than the day they found out that Lynch would be joining Montgomery in the Cowgirls’ 2015 signing class.

That day, they were hitting in the Glory’s batting cages together when former OSU head coach Rich Wieligman and their travel-ball coaches walked up to the cage and started talking to Lynch.

After the conversation ended, Lynch darted over to Montgomery and told her the good news.

“I think I’m going to be with you,” Montgomery recalled Lynch saying at the time.

“I can’t even tell you how many years that I’d hit behind her. Whether it was the twohole or in the three-hole, it was always her and then it’s me every single year. Just knowing that we’d still have that was nice.”

After Lynch made her collegiate decision, the bond between the two continued to strengthen as they shared unique experiences that most go through by themselves.

“I remember that we would go to football games together, and we always went to the same camps,” Lynch said. “We tried on our first OSU jersey together and all that stuff. It’s just cool because you don’t every really get to go through the whole recruiting process together, and we got to start together in sixth or seventh grade and have gone the whole way since then together.”