Three little girls with toothy grins and weathered softball jerseys covered with dirt walk off the field with their coaches as they head to 7-Eleven for their post-practice Slurpees.  

It started with three coaches bringing their daughters to the Ladybugs youth recreational softball practice early so they could set up and stay late to clean up.

At 4-years old, the girls found each other in those in-between moments, and somehow, became best friends in the blink of an eye. 

“We went to every practice together. We had sleepovers all the time after games,” junior Courtney Hargrove said. “After all the time we’ve spent together and how close our dads got through coaching, I just knew we were best friends because we spent all of our time together.” 

Now Coppell High School juniors, Emma Praytor, Claire Keith and Hargrove play for the Coppell softball team, standing side-by-side on the same field like when they were 4-years old. 

“We used to take the girls when they were on the recreational teams and come watch the high school games,” Claire’s dad, Scott Keith, said. “I remember sitting in the stands back then, and you think about it, but you never know the odds are that one of them picks a different sport or one of them quits playing sports, so it’s cool to see them play with that Coppell in front of their jersey.”

Fellow coach and dad, Jay Praytor, shares a similar sentiment, having watched the same journey. 

“We called them the Three Musketeers because they were always wanting to hang out with each other and wanting to do things together,” Mr. Praytor said. “They were pulled apart through their select world, but as they came together in high school, it was fun to watch them come back together again and see that their friendship never really diminished.”

In elementary and middle school, the girls did not attend the same campus. 

“Courtney and I went to Town Center Elementary School together, but Emma didn’t, and then I moved, so then Emma and I went to middle school together, and Courtney didn’t,” Claire said. “We’ve always been close. I think even though we didn’t go to the same school, we’d always hang out.”

The hardships of not competing together never got in the way of their friendship. The girls acknowledged that their friendship never changed.

“Every time something happens in my life, I am on the phone with them on the car ride back from practice,” Emma said. “There’s not a day that I can go without talking to them. I feel like they are such a big part of my life, and it’s going to continue.” 

Their bond has not gone unnoticed by people around them, including softball coach Emily Janicek, who has seen the friendship and skills grow on the field. 

“They were our three little kittens because they would always be following each other around,” Janicek said. “Describing all three of them is very hard, because as similar as they are, they’re all very unique in their own way, playing styles and personalities.”

Janicek is not the only one witnessing how far the three have come in their softball careers.

“It’s been amazing to watch the development of all three of these young ladies as they progressed through the continuum of different age groups, and now playing together in high school ball has been nothing short of amazing,” Courtney’s dad, Tom Hargrove, said. 

When asked if the girls’ friendship would continue after high school, the girls did not have to think about it and unanimously agreed, continuing what they started on the softball field at 4-years old. 

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