It simply didn’t feel right.
Not the way the ball came out of their hands or crossed the plate. Not the way it scorched off opposing bats or skipped across the outfield grass. Not the feedback from coaches or the results of self reflection.
The twin sons of a single mother, whom they said moved mountains so that they could play baseball, Kyson and Malachi Witherspoon had reached a critical crossroads.
Though it might have been fleeting at the time, the brothers loved the game and wished to keep playing it as long as they could. But after years of their mother’s sacrifice, reality started to creep in.
The time was nearing to pay their mother back, to shower her with the same love and care that she had displayed for so long. If it meant moving on from the sport, both brothers were ready.
“We needed to start thinking about how we could help her pay some bills,” Malachi Witherspoon said. “We didn’t have any offers to go play Division I, and I think if you asked us at the time, we would have told you that it was just time to move on.”
Kyson agreed.
“Our headspace for baseball just wasn’t there anymore, to some degree,” he said. “We were good with it.”
But their mother Meg wasn’t.
She knew the weight of their decision before they even voiced it. As a mother who had tirelessly driven them to practices, sacrificing her own dreams so they could chase theirs, she could never let them walk away so easily.
She understood the burden they felt, the growing pressure of wanting to give back and take care of her after all she’d done for them. But she wasn’t ready to see them give up, not when they had so much talent and potential still left untapped.
The brothers realized that the time to pay her back didn’t just mean money or obligations—it meant pushing forward, seeing their journey through to the end. Not for her, but for themselves.
Baseball had always been their passion, the thing that kept them going even when times were tough, and they weren’t ready to let go. They had made it this far. Why quit now, when the door to something much bigger was in sight?
It wasn’t just about the game anymore—it was about honoring the sacrifices their mother made and giving themselves the chance to reach the heights they all dreamed of. Even if the future was uncertain, even if they weren’t sure what would come next, they owed it to themselves—and to Meg—to push forward.
So they decided. The Witherspoons would keep playing. They weren’t just doing this for her anymore—they were doing it for the future they had always imagined, one where all the sacrifices would finally be worth it.
“She relit the spark for us,” Malachi said. “She signed us up for summer ball, and that’s when we just started to fall in love with the game all over again. That’s honestly when everything changed.”
From the moment they picked up a baseball, the Witherspoon brothers were fierce competitors.
Whether it was battling to see whose batting practice balls would go farther or seeing who could throw the quickest fastball, they pushed each other relentlessly.
Their shared love for baseball may have been the glue that bound them, but it was their unyielding competitiveness that drove them both to improve.
“When we play catch even now, if he throws a good pitch, I’ll try to throw the same pitch even better,” Kyson said. “Everything we do, we try to one-up each other. It helped us fall in love with the game more and more, too.”
That competitive fire that was especially apparent when the time came to decide their collegiate future. In true Witherspoon fashion, they made it together, so that they could continue to compete with one another and improve by each other’s side.
Coming out of high school, Malachi turned down the Diamondbacks in the 12th round in 2022. Kyson turned down more prominent D-I offers to continue playing with his brother.
The Witherspoon twins, both righthanded pitchers, ultimately chose to attend Northwest Florida State College, a junior college about four hours from their hometown of Jacksonville. At the time, it was a practical decision, one that gave them a chance to refine their skills and prepare for the next level.
But as they settled into the routine of juco ball, something became clear to them: Their raw talent, honed over years, was beginning to shine in ways they hadn’t anticipated.
At Northwest Florida, the Witherspoons started to see the full potential of their athleticism—and where they realized the magnitude of their futures. Kyson pitched to a 3.10 ERA with 72 strikeouts in 69.2 innings, while Malachi appeared in 13 games, threw 17.1 innings and struck out 24.
“I think that’s when it all really started to come together for both of us,” Kyson said. “We kind of found ourselves there, and it opened a lot of doors.”
At Northwest Florida, they discovered their dreams of playing professionally weren’t so far-fetched.
It’s why they didn’t hesitate to commit to Oklahoma after head coach Skip Johnson came calling. Johnson has garnered a reputation as one of college baseball’s best pitching developers and is also credited with mentoring future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw in his draft year.
The Witherspoons couldn’t turn down the opportunity.
“It was a pretty easy decision,” Malachi said. “Skip Johnson is one of the greatest out there, and when we had an opportunity to learn from him, we didn’t really think twice.”
It ended up being a family decision. Malachi and Kyson would play for the Sooners and Meg would follow them, moving from Jacksonville to Oklahoma City so she could see them play.
“That is a truly special family right there,” Johnson said. “Those guys have all the talent in the world, but the quality of the person is even better and their mom is—I would call her a hero. Oklahoma was lucky to get the Witherspoons, not just Malachi and Kyson.”
The uniqueness of the Witherspoon brothers’ case isn’t lost on them. If anything, both joked without knowledge of what the other said, it defines them to a degree.
In the history of Major League Baseball, just 10 twin brothers have reached the game’s highest level, with relievers Taylor and Tyler Rogers of the Giants the latest duo to achieve the feat.
It’s even rarer for twins to be drafted in the same year and advance to the majors. Damon and Ryan Minor, the last to do so, both had their names called after college careers at Oklahoma.
The Witherspoons will have a chance to follow in their exact footsteps.
Kyson, the Sooners’ ace, is a potential first-round pick this summer and earned preseason second-team All-America honors. Malachi, who will follow his brother and start on Saturdays after serving as the Sooners’ closer last year, currently profiles as a sixth-to-eighth-round pick with the ability to rise with a big season.
Given that they expect to be picked in different rounds of this year’s draft, neither brother was willing to dismiss the possibility that they could again play for the same team.
“Part of me doesn’t like thinking about it, because my brother is like an extra coach, a constant supporter,” Kyson said. “When I’m pitching, he’s pacing around in the dugout because he’s nervous for me. When he’s pitching, I’m doing the same.
If we aren’t on the same teams at the next level, we’ll still be each other’s biggest fans. But we’ll miss it.”
Malachi joked that their mother might not know what to do if her sons played for different organizations.
“We’ve literally never played on different teams that I can remember,” he said. “Not in any sport. She came to every high school game and was there for everything at Northwest Florida, and then she moved to Oklahoma to keep watching us.
“Now I guess we’ll see what happens at the next level, but you just know she wants to see us keep going on this journey together.”
For Oklahoma to meet their own lofty expectations in their first year in the Southeastern Conference, the Sooners will rely on their twin pitchers.
Kyson added a new pitch, a changeup, to his repertoire to best prepare for Friday nights, while Malachi’s alterations occurred more on the mental side, where Johnson said the 6-foot-3 righty “reinvented himself.”
Oklahoma’s lineup lacks proven production, having returned only one player who eclipsed 10 home runs last season. The way Johnson sees it, the twins could provide a much-needed cushion for the team’s offense.
“I’ve been around a lot of big leaguers in my career,” Johnson said. “These guys go about their business like professionals. They’re our Friday and Saturday starters for a reason. Everything they do, they do it to the best of their ability. They have a 3.75 (grade point average), both of them.
“Whatever ‘it’ is, they have it.”
It could all pay off this year. For them, their mother and their team.
“Baseball is the best game on the planet and it’s super fun, but for us it’s going to be how we repay our mom. Our super mom, that’s what we call her,” Malachi said.
“All of the struggles that we went through as a family will have been worth it, and I’m just thankful the lord has blessed us with this opportunity.”
Added Kyson: “We don’t take this opportunity lightly at all. And I think it should be known that we do it all for her, our mom.”
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