Page 42 - Winter 2022

s| ACTIVE LIVING
Sisters bond as NOHS teammates
By Emily Dozier
Sisters Caroline, left, and Lily, right, are fortunate to be teammates for the North Oconee High School softball team.
Caroline and Lily Branch consider themselves luckier than other siblings or athletes.
The sisters get to experience their senior and freshman year at North Oconee High School as track and softball teammates. They hope to fullfill family and Titan history.
But they aren’t the first pair to do so.
The oldest Branch sister, Hannah, graduated in 2019 as Caroline completed her freshman year at NOHS. She passed the tradition down to her younger sisters as a dual-sport athlete in softball and track.
“I looked up to her, of course,” Caroline Branch said. “Then, I kind of think as much as I looked up to Hannah, that’s the same way Lily looks up to me. So I want to be a good example of a good leader for her.”
Caroline and Lily have already seen their relationship flourish on the field with Caroline at shortstop and Lily at right field. Titan softball closed out its season in October as the Class AAAA runners-up. The two found solidarity and support in each other throughout the season.
While Titan softball did not end their season with a championship ring, the trip to Columbus and fighting through the bracket for two days is a fond memory for Lily.
The sisters’ relationship has already been setting an example for the youngest Branch sister too, who won’t be in high school in time to repeat the freshman-senior softball tradition for the family.
“It was kind of special because this is the last time that it’s going be happening. Our younger sister is five years younger so I won’t get to play with her,” Lily Branch said. “I guess that was a really good, fun season knowing that this is the last time that it’s going to happen.”
Lily said her relationship with her sister has helped her on the field.
sEmily Dozier is a sports intern from UGA for The Oconee Enterprise newspaper in Watkinsville, Ga. PAGE 40 | OCONEE THE MAGAZINE | WINTER 2022
Courtesy Branch family
Courtesy Branch family