Enjoying The Journey

Mazie Macfarlane’s journey was met with unprecedented growth. The graduate outfielder is having a career year with Maryland Softball, but it wouldn’t have been possible without her and her sister going their separate ways. 

Mazie and her sister, Makenzie Macfarlane, are mirror-image twins. They grew up on a farm in Rocklin, California, and did everything together, including playing the same sports. The twins even shared the same competitive fire that allowed them to become Division I softball players and later student-athletes at the Power Five level. 

Their parents purposefully had them play different positions in softball, basketball, and soccer, but everything they did throughout their childhood was a competition. The Macfarlane family showed cattle, and the twins made that a competition of who could present the animals better. 

“I feel like she (Makenzie) won a lot more when we were little,” Mazie said. “I always got the meaner cows.”

The sisters shifted their focus to the diamond as they grew older and became talented softball players. They each received offers from different schools but were set on leaving California to play somewhere together. Utah State offered the twins, and each committed during their freshman years of high school.  

Mazie, an outfielder, and Makenzie, a catcher and first baseman, played together on the Aggies from 2020-22 and recorded many individual accomplishments on the field and in the classroom. Both were Mountain West Scholar-Athletes and Academic All-Mountain West at least three times in their career.

Mazie also made her mark in the Utah State single-season record book with a breakout junior season in 2022. Her 46 runs scored rank first in program history. Her 36 walks and 22 stolen bases also rank tied for second and seventh, respectively, for a single season. Mazie was even named to the All-Mountain West team in 2020, her freshman season, while playing just 24 games. 

The sisters leaned on each other as they always had. Makenzie admitted she doesn’t believe she could've made it to the next level without having Mazie by her side.   

“We were the only two freshmen who came in living in the dorms,” she said. “We had each other. We had to make friends with the older girls. I don't think I would have made it if I was just doing that by myself and knew she was somewhere else.”

But everything would change during a fall game in 2023 ahead of the sister’s senior season. Mazie broke her ankle and tore several ligaments sliding into home plate. Her surgery was successful, and she was told that a return in time for the regular season was possible. However, Mazie was still unable to run when the season came around. 

Mazie and the softball staff decided to use a redshirt designation. She could not play alongside her sister and teammates during her senior year. More importantly, because of the extra year they were granted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the twins decided to transfer elsewhere for their fifth year. 

The twins had played their last game together without even knowing it. But when reflecting on the events, Makenzie considered them positive. 

“I feel that in the end, her having the redshirt and me playing my senior year at Utah State was more of a blessing in disguise,” Makenzie said. “Our relationship blossomed in the aspect of us pushing each other to work hard.”

The sisters felt that they were known as twins and not individuals. They even determined that they had been away from each other for just 12 days in their 23 years of life.  

“We thought it would be a good opportunity for us to separate for the extra year because we had friends on the teams we were looking to go to,” Mazie said. “We wanted to see what it would be like and see if we could handle being apart from each other.”

Mazie chose to transfer to Maryland because she knew Jaeda McFarland from a summer league they both had played in a few summers prior. She also played under former assistant Laura Heberling at Utah State. She was the assistant and even briefly the interim head coach for the Terps from 2022-23. 

Makenzie transferred to Arizona State, where she knew a few friends on the roster who were from northern California. She nearly chose George Washington to be closer to her sister, but the twins are happy with their decisions.

Mazie is having a career year with the Terps. She has started and appeared in 48 of 49 games and has a .326 batting average with 42 hits, five home runs, 22 RBIs and 23 runs. She also leads the team with 26 walks and a .440 on-base percentage. 

“Mazie has been an incredible addition to our program both on and off the field," Terps softball Head Coach Lauren Karn said. “She is a great teammate who is always looking to help the people around her while also helping herself and holding herself accountable. I know how challenging it can be to be so far from your support system, but Mazie has really embraced the ebbs and flows of it. She has been a rock for our team in her consistency and the way she shows up.”

Makenzie says her sister plays much more relaxedly than in years past and is simply “Enjoying the journey without putting too much pressure on herself.”  

The twins have grown as individuals because of their new experiences, but their relationship has remained unchanged. 

“We're each other's biggest supporters from opposite sides of the country,” Makenzie said.