Softball Rivals Discover They're Long-Lost Sisters Mid-Game

Samantha Rensvold was mid-game at a Montana softball tournament when her teammate pointed across the field at an opposing player who looked exactly like her. Samantha tried not to get her hopes up, but deep down, she wondered if she'd finally found the sister she'd been looking for her entire life.

Samantha, 19, had always known she was adopted. She also knew she had a younger sister somewhere out there, but because her sister's adoption was closed, finding her seemed impossible.

After the game, Samantha was too scared to approach the girl who looked like her twin. But when she got home, her mother suggested they check the tournament roster again.

That's when they saw the name: Kyann. Samantha's mother immediately recognized it as the name her birth mother had given her younger daughter.

"My mom was like, 'That has to be your sister. That's not a coincidence,'" Samantha recalled.

At their next game, while Samantha played right field, her mother spoke with Kyann Dean's mom in the stands. The two mothers compared what they knew about the girls' biological family: their birth mother's name, the hospital where they were born. Everything matched perfectly.

"There was no way we weren't sisters," Samantha said.

The coincidences ran deeper than their looks. Both girls had played volleyball in high school, both wore number 6, and both played the same position. They even share the same little giggle.

Samantha and Kyann had been adopted as babies by different families living 400 miles apart in Montana. Their biological parents were just 19 and 17 when Samantha was born, likely too young to provide the life they wanted for their children.

Samantha had learned about her sister years earlier through their biological brother, who had tracked down Samantha's family. But she'd never met Kyann until that moment on the softball field.

Sunny's Take

The sisters now attend colleges in different states, with Samantha in Washington and Kyann in North Dakota. They stay in touch and hope to spend more time together when they can.

For Samantha, finding Kyann brought closure she'd waited her whole life for. "It's so nice to be able to put a face to her and to meet her, hang out with her," she said. "It doesn't leave any doubt or wonder in my mind."

After years of knowing she had a sister somewhere in the world, Samantha found her on the other side of a softball diamond.