The first time that Hayley and Koby Temple experienced a fierce competition against each other was in a game of Elefun.
It is a popular toddler’s game where a motorized elephant blows nylon butterflies in the air. The object of the game is for players to catch as many butterflies as you can with nets.
Koby caught the special blue butterfly and won the game and Hayley took exception.
“My mom said I flipped out and chased him with the net trying to kill him. I started whacking him and that’s when it all started I’m pretty sure,” Hayley said.
Their mother took away the game from them.
But it marked the beginning of a rivalry shared by the two siblings who are two years apart.
Growing up, baseball and softball were sanctuaries. Their father, Scott Temple, was a former baseball scout and head softball coach of Hayley’s Valley Christian High School softball team.
“We were fortunate to have that kind of background growing up and he instilled his knowledge in us and helped us become the players that we were,” Koby said.
Koby was a gifted player at third base and left field for Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kan. He combined speed with power and possessed the ability to throw with both hands.
Hayley was a better defender. The Arizona Republic named Temple the 2009 Arizona Small Schools Player of the Year. She was also named the 2009 Arizona 2A Player of the Year and the Central Region 2A Player of the Year by the Arizona Sports Network.
They had one goal when they played—out do the other.
“It was a fun, competitive rivalry. I knew she was going to go big time so it was always fun competing against her,” Koby said.
Koby had a game where he went 4-for-5 with two home runs during his senior season at Valley Christian High. The elder Temple, who just finished coaching Hayley’s game, called Koby to see how he played.
“Oh OK. Hayley threw a no hitter today,” his father said.
“What am I going to say to that? I can’t really beat that so that kind of shut me up that time,” Koby said.
Both agree that Hayley is a better fielder and Koby is more of a power threat at the plate.
When they go to each other’s games, they give each other constructive feedback.
Hayley attended one of Koby’s games. Koby tried to make a play on a fly ball. It was a windy day so he had to make multiple reads on the ball while running back to make a play. Koby didn’t see the padded flagpole on the field’s warning track. Before he could stop himself, he collided with the flagpole.
To make matters worse, the ball landed on the ground beside him. Koby jumped back up, picked up the ball and threw it to the cut-off man and shrugged it off.
His younger sister didn’t let him get off that easy.
“I asked him, ‘What hurts more—your body or your ego?” Temple said, laughing as she recalled the event.
Koby, a fifth year senior, no longer plays baseball due to eligibility issues. He watches Hayley every Sunday home game and will give her some batting tips if she is in a slump.
Though they’ve tried to one up the other in their friendly bouts, it was the mutual passion for the game they’ve played since their childhood that has brought them closer together.
“We had other strengths in life but the one we had in common was baseball and softball,” Koby said.
