When Celine Fowler and Taelor Griffin signed their National Letter of Intents in 2014, they had no idea that just two years later they would also find their best friend.

Fowler, a senior outfielder from North Bend, Washington has been a four-year starter for the Wildcats and has always had a vibrant personality, making her presence known everywhere she goes.

In their time on the team both Griffin and Fowler have seen the team go through many changes. Fowler has played under both former head coach, Mallory Holtman-Fletcher, and current head coach, Mike Larabee. Earning herself conference and regional honors in both the 2016 and 2017 seasons, Fowler has always been a vocal leader from day one.

“I remember the first time I took pictures for the team, they were out front of Shaw, and Celine was posing and making faces. She is so outgoing,” said Sammy Henderson, sports information director.  

Griffin, a senior catcher and pinch hitter from Ellensburg, is quieter and more reserved when it comes to her day-to-day personality but that doesn’t stop her from making jokes.

“I have known of Griff since she was in high school, being an Ellensburg girl, I knew the name, she was local,” Henderson said. “She just seemed a lot quieter. But she is one of the funniest people I have ever met.”

Henderson described Griffin as calm in intense situations. He said one of his favorite things about Griffin when she is on the field is that she takes on each at bat as if she was the leadoff hitter without letting the stress take over her when it comes time to do her job.

“She is the perfect pinch hitter,” Henderson said. “She approaches as if she was a lead off batter or a starter. It didn’t change the way she approached the situation.”

Fowler and Griffin never expected to be friends when first joining the team in September 2014.

“I thought she was weird,” Fowler said. “And I’m pretty sure she thought I was a brat.”

It wasn’t until the 2015 season, their sophomore year, that the two girls really became friends. Now the two are inseparable.

“Even our dogs are best friends,” Griffin said.

The two spend as much time possible together experiencing life and overcoming challenges many college students have to face.

“Taelor is perfect because if I’m crying I just go over to her place and she’s so awkward when people cry that I stop crying,” Fowler said.

The two also do many of the same things you would expect from the typical college friendship experiencing different adventures and traveling to new places together.

“We got to go to Nashville together this summer and it was so fun,” Griffin said.

But it doesn’t stop there, the two will even help the other rearrange their room and help the other change locks on their doors.

“I remember I got a Snapchat with them saying that they were locked in Celine’s room,” said sophomore outfielder Paige Liikala.

The two not only play softball and hang out together, but also work as sports information assistants, making their friendship just that more unique.

“They are both so fun and are always having so much fun together, I have never heard either of them say they were tired of being around the other and I think that is so unique about their friendship,” Henderson said.

With their friendship, they bring a lot to the team, on and off the field.

“They really make the dugout fun,” Liikala said.

With the loud chants and cheering culture softball brings, it helps that Griffin and Fowler build their energy off one another, making the dugout even louder and more fun.

“I think our chemistry in the dugout makes it more fun and exciting,” Fowler said.

With the season nearing the end and their time at CWU coming to a close, Griffin and Fowler both agreed that the worst part of graduating will be that they won’t be able to see one another each day.

“She’s moving to Spokane and I’m student teaching in Issaquah,” Fowler said. “Now we’re going to have to plan to see each other,” Griffin added.

Although the season is coming to an end, the two still have two more guaranteed weeks together.

The Wildcats look to finish their regular season against Saint Martin’s University for the first and only time this season, with a four-game series played both in Lacey and Ellensburg on April 28-29.  

GNAC conference play begins just days later on May 3.

The Wildcats are sitting second in conference and are looking to make their fourth appearance in the GNAC tournament in a five-year span.  

The Wildcats have a very senior-heavy roster this year with four seniors graduating, including transfer catcher Jacie McDaniels and outfielder Samantha Gorham.