Longtime friends Madeline Haun and Kinley Keller set to be NCAA softball tournament foes
May 14-Soon after the NCAA Softball Tournament Selection Show on Sunday, a text bubble with two words from a familiar face popped up on Saint Mary's freshman Madeline Haun's phone.
"NO WAY"
The text message from Mississippi State freshman Kinley Keller was the first gust in a perfect storm that brings the two San Antonio area softball standouts back together again.
Saint Mary's and Mississippi State face off to open the Eugene (Ore.) Regional on Friday, meaning longtime friends and former club teammates will be foes, at least for one night.
"Honestly, I didn't think that we would because this is our freshman season, and she's all the way out in Cali," Keller said. "But I'm really excited to see her this weekend and just have good competition."
Keller started for four seasons at Davenport and was selected as the 2025 Express-News Player of the Year. Haun was a four-year starting pitcher for Smithson Valley and an Express-News All-Area selection.
Their standout high school careers have given way to impactful freshman seasons at the Division I level. Keller, an outfielder, has started 29 of 56 games and is hitting .321 with two home runs and 12 RBIs. Haun has started 13 games, made 28 appearances with a 9-3 record. She has a 4.26 ERA and 57 strikeouts in 98 2/3 innings.
"It feels surreal just the fact that it's our first years, and we just happen to be facing each other," Haun said. "Out of all the schools that are hosting and all of the 64 teams total in regionals. It's crazy to me that (at each regional) with a total of four teams, we're two of them at the same place."
Saint Mary's (40-14) and Mississippi State (38-18) begin tournament play at 6:30 p.m. Friday. Idaho State (37-18) and host Oregon (40-12) are in the other Eugene Regional pairing at 9 p.m.
Leading up to last Sunday's selection show, Keller and Haun joked about the possibility of their teams matching up. As the brackets filled up, neither team was mentioned. The increasing probability started to creep in.
"There's not a lot left," Haun said. "This feels too good to be true. I didn't think the likelihood was good."
And then, "NO WAY"
"This is so ironic," Haun said. "This is both of our first years in college and then this all what's happening."
Keller and Haun first met as teammates on the New Braunfels based Bombers Fastpitch club Under 12 team. Their friendship solidified from there with sleepovers, movies, lunches and plenty of softball.
Davenport and Smithson Valley never played against each other in high school, though Keller faced Haun twice in a Bombers scrimmage on their Under 18 teams. Haun actually hit Keller with an inside pitch after getting ahead in the count.
"We both laugh about that," Keller said. "Our relationship has been like a sister type of bond. We are really close and our families are, too. We all hang out outside of softball. She's just a great person, a good teammate. She's amazing to be around with."
Their families live close to each other north of San Antonio. Haun's parents, Jerome and Lori, picked up Keller's mother, April, to fly to Oregon on Thursday morning. Keller's father, Kevin, is flying to Oregon from a work trip. It's been a friendly topic among their families since the pairing was revealed.
But as Friday's game draws closer, that will change for the players.
"I go straight to the mentality of like 'we're not friends' when it's a competitive setting," Haun said. "Before the game, we can be hanging out in the morning and after, we can go out to eat. But, right then and there, I'm going to do what I've been doing all season. It's the same for her. She's going to want to go against me."
Although they'll be brief foes, their friendship endures through college softball.
"We knew this was going to be a big step in our journey," Keller said. "It was going to be hard, but we knew that we could do this, and we could take it head on. We have each other's backs. She supports me, and I support her in everything that she does."
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