Fletcher High School began its season against Bartram Trail High School on Feb. 21, 2022, with the preseason No. 1 team in Florida ready to showcase an array of Division I commits on its roster.
College and professional scouts lined up to watch the blue-chippers Bartram Trail had on board, but Fletcher head coach Michael Grillo persisted through a set of pitchers ready to set the tone.
Fletcher senior right-hander Malachi Witherspoon took the ball in the opener and went right to work. While Malachi had only been averaging 92 miles per hour with his fastball at the time, he attacked the Bartram Trail hitters all day. In five innings, Malachi struck out 13 batters against one of the best teams in the country.
Facing a decision in the final two innings, Grillo turned to Malachi’s twin brother, Kyson.
“You want to finish this motherf*****?” Grillo asked Kyson.
“Yeah,” Kyson replied. “Give me the damn ball.”
Out of the bullpen, Kyson struck out five to secure the win over Bartram Trail. Malachi and Kyson combined for all 21 outs, striking out 18.
“From then on, it was pandemonium,” Grillo told the OU Daily.
After that game, Kyson and Malachi led Fletcher to a 23-4 record after going 16-12 a season before.
Scouts from all over the nation made their way down to Fletcher to evaluate the Witherspoon twins, who were suddenly trending across the state. In Fletcher’s baseball stadium, some sections in the bleachers had to be reserved for scouts.
“At one point, I think we had every pro team at one game,” Grillo said. “All the (radar) guns were out, and everybody was on their phones.”
For Grillo, it was not until after their junior year where he saw a noticeable difference with the Witherspoon twins, specifically in the weight room.
For the next three to six months, Kyson and Malachi took their training in the weight room to a different level. Kyson gained 20 pounds, while Malachi put on 35 upon coming back to school.
On the mound, the twins each gained six miles per hour on their fastball. Kyson went from touching 84 mph to 90, and Malachi went from 86 to 92 over that summer.
“The weight room changed the game for them forever,” Grillo said. “And they’re probably still not even done growing.”
‘I always wanted to be present’
Born in Kansas City, the Witherspoon twins moved to Jacksonville, Florida at 2 years old and were raised by their mother, Meg, in a single-parent household.
Outside of sports, the twins developed extroverted personalities, watched cartoons, recited movie scenes throughout childhood and according to Oklahoma head coach Skip Johnson, became polite men.
“The story’s about their mother,” Johnson told Southeastern 16 in a February interview. “... How she raised them and how respectful they are is incredible.”
Meg worked multiple jobs – usually more than one at a time – when the twins were young and made it a point to be present at her sons’ activities while they were growing up.
“I prioritized going to games and things because that was not my parents when I was growing up,” Meg told OU Daily. “So I always wanted to be present for their activities.”
Kyson and Malachi played many sports growing up and started playing baseball at 6 years old. It wasn’t until high school that they focused purely on baseball.
Before their senior year, the twins were committed to Daytona State University. Malachi received an offer from Jacksonville University into his senior year, but the school was reluctant to make an offer to Kyson. By the time Jacksonville wanted to offer Kyson, he was not interested.
Due to academic standards, Kyson and Malachi later decommitted from Daytona State and ended up committing to Northwest Florida State College, a junior college located in Niceville, Florida.
After an entourage of MLB scouts began to hype up the twins, the Arizona Diamondbacks selected Malachi in the 12th round of the 2022 MLB Draft. However, struggling to come to an agreement on a pro contract, Malachi followed his brother to Northwest Florida State, where they spent a year in Niceville.
“I think they got to see the good, the bad and the ugly of (JUCO),” Meg said. “But I think that was definitely another step in the development process of life.”
The twins had offers from Oklahoma, Miami, Nebraska and Georgia coming out of junior college. They ended up committing to the Sooners on June 23, 2023.
Boomer sooners!! pic.twitter.com/A7gzeOOVrI
— Kyson Witherspoon (@kybone904) June 23, 2023
Boomer Sooner Baby ‼️‼️‼️ pic.twitter.com/JFynVyHPPM
— Malachi Witherspoon (@MalachiW215) June 23, 2023
“It was just very comfortable,” Meg said about the visit to OU. “They just really felt at home here.”
‘They’re mature past their age’
Oklahoma associate head coach Reggie Willits stumbled upon videos of the twins when on X (formerly known as Twitter) and reached out to scouts in that area.
He then got a hold of them, asked whether they wanted to go back to junior college or go to a Division I school and started to make things happen.
“From the second I first talked to them on the phone, I knew they were special young men, and it would be something that would fit into our system,” Willits told OU Daily. “When they got here for a visit, I got to meet their mom and how special she is and how good of a job she’s done raising them.
“We’re just blessed and fortunate to have them part of our program.”
In 2024, Kyson posted a 3.71 earned run average in 15 appearances with 11 starts, while Malachi collected five saves out of the bullpen with a 5.64 earned run average. They each made one appearance in the Norman Regional last season, with Kyson throwing six shutout innings against Oral Roberts and Malachi tossing 1.2 scoreless innings out of the bullpen against Duke.
Both of them were key pieces on the mound last season, helping the Sooners host a regional for the first time since 2010.
Their performances a season ago got them invited to the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team and playing in the Cape Cod League over the summer to hone their skills. It was that summer where the twins gained a new confidence on the mound and experiences to share with their teammates.
“I think that experience playing with the best people around the world really helps with the experience and the confidence coming back, just trying to share our experience with the other team and teammates and seeing them rise as well,” Kyson said on Feb. 5.
So far in 2025, Kyson and Malachi have been the anchors of a Sooners rotation in their inaugural season in the SEC. Mock drafts for the 2025 MLB Draft have Kyson projected as high as No. 2 overall and both twins being in the top 200 prospects in the draft.
“He is a very athletic pitcher who has great arm speed and generates consistent mid-90s velocity pretty easily,” MLB writer Keith Law, who watched Kyson against LSU on April 3, told OU Daily. “He has the makings of an effective slider, which I expect will improve when he gets into a professional pitching development.”
Ever since coming to Norman, the twins have showcased talent on the mound, but it’s their composure and maturity that sets them apart, according to the ones who know them best.
“They’re mature past their age,” Willits said. “... They’ve got their head on their shoulders, they’ve got a good work ethic and they want to be great.”
“You also just want them to be good humans,” Meg said. “And to know that I get those types of compliments from other players and other parents, that’s the pat on the back that you don’t get very often as a parent.”
This story was edited by Hannah Bryant and Josh McDaniel.
