Brothers Making their Mark

Twins are not super common in the sports world, yet the twins that play in professional sports are incredibly famed. A Sports Illustrated article highlighted Brook Lopez and Robin Lopez, both notable NBA giants who dominated as centers for their respective teams. The McCourty’s are also noteworthy professional twin athletes, as they were both talented defensive players for the New England Patriots during their years of dynasty. This dynamic is unique–a once-in-a-blue-moon story of twins playing with or against each other in professional sports.

There are a lot of twins at RMHS, one set being the Merkle twins. Although these twins do not play the same sport, it is significant to note that both brothers are incredibly talented in their separate sports. Alex Merkle (‘26) is a multi-sport athlete, performing at a high level in baseball and basketball. On the other hand, Will Merkle (‘26) is a top MIAA wrestler. Both twins compete at a high level, eager to have even more impressive seasons before graduation in 2026. 

What Drives Their Success?

Competitive spirit was a driving factor to the junior twins’ success in RMHS athletics. Successful athletes stay at the top of their game when they notice great competition, a standard the Merkle twins live by. Will Merkle gave some insight on this theme: “I see [Alex] practicing outside and it makes me think that I need to be practicing because when I see other people working when I’m not working, it puts me at a disadvantage.” Because of this, Will Merkle found the motivation from his brother to continue a workout or to try with better effort in practice. That is what makes the twin dynamic in sports unique: they feed off the successes of each other to make themselves better athletes.

Will’s effort paid off after having a 27-3 regular season effort, making him one of the most dominant wrestlers in MIAA Division II.   Will won the MIAA D2 North Sectional at 144 and followed that with a second place finish at the DII states.   Most recently he placed sixth at All-States, earning himself a spot on the bracket at the prestigious New England championships on Saturday, March 8 in Providence, RI.

On the other hand, Alex Merkle had an outstanding 2024 baseball season. He led the team with a .328 batting average and was tied for the most hits.  He was a Middlesex League All-Star, the team MVP, and a participant in the MBCA Best of the East Underclassmen All-Star Game–not bad, considering that was only his sophomore season.  Alex has the potential to be a five tool player, as he showcased his speed, defense, and skills at the plate. Alex shared a similar perspective on how impactful competition has affected his training.  “We’ve always been competitive since at a young age…the level of competitiveness we’ve always had makes me want to compete.” Competitive spirit is a learned value, a value that allowed both Merkle twins to persevere through  training to find success in their respective sports. What makes it unique as twins is that they are motivated by each other.

In addition, the Merkle twins value keeping a consistent routine, in terms of their dietary habits and their workouts. It all boiled down to gaining a competitive advantage: the more an athlete practices, the better the on field results will be. Will talked about their unity in their offseason routine: “We’ll work out together in the offseason and do workouts together…  nutrition wise, we’re cooking the same things.” Not only were the Merkle twins reliant on each other for their competitive mindset, but in keeping each other active and healthy. 

The Future

In our interviews together, both twins expressed hopes and goals in their respective sports. To begin, the wrestling team this year was hovering around a .500 record. It was an improvement from last season, which was a struggle according to Will. He has confidence in the future of the program: “We have a lot of young kids and a lot of sophomores on the team, so I think next year, we should be looking at a positive season. The main thing is just that a lot of people get sick and stuff during the winter, and it kind of depends. But I think we have a bright future.” 

The baseball team is looking for prodigious success next season, coming off a 10-11 record in 2024. They certainly had a roller coaster season, going on a cold stretch of one-run loss games early in the season to ultimately make it into the state tournament with a much improved record. Alex remarked on his optimism regarding this spring season: “We’re an upperclassmen loaded team this year, whereas last year, we were underclassmen. So I think going into this season, people definitely have high hopes, and I know we’re all ready to work hard to accomplish the goals we want to accomplish.” As long as the team maintains strong leadership and consistency this year from the juniors and seniors, the baseball team could definitely have a positive record and a better ranking in the 2025 MIAA Division III playoff.

If the Rockets are having success on the mat or on the diamond, you can expect that one of the Merkle brothers has a lot to do with it.