When Mary and Jenny Murphy of Langley (forever friends but no relation) were 8 years old, they fell in love with softball.

Little League came first — Mary Murphy in the outfield, her friend behind the plate. They played as Cougars in middle school and went to state finals with the South Whidbey Falcons in 2001 and 2002.

As if that weren’t enough, after graduation in 2003 both girls enrolled at Everett Community College on softball scholarships, studying communications.

And then they heard about something really special.

“One of my teammates at college had been a Mariner ball girl and I decided to check it out,” Mary Murphy recalled. “I sent in a resumé that focused on my athletic background and got a call to come in for an interview.”

That call came from Mariner events coordinator Garrett Cook, who explained that Mariner ball girls are an offshoot of the team’s fielder program for young girls 17 to 22.

“Fielders do a variety of odd jobs such as crowd control, handing out free stuff before games, changing flags and marking standings,” Cook said.

There are roughly 90 girls engaged every season, but only eight are picked to be ball girls. They can re-apply, but two years is the maximum.

The position requires young girls to sit on stools outside the foul ball line at first and third base for every home game, picking up ground balls that come their way and giving them to children in the stands. They do their work before thousands of fans, and often appear on national TV.

Halfway through the first inning, the girls would switch places. Whoever ended on third base would get the pitcher’s jacket from the bullpen and give it to the bat boy when the manager sent in a relief.

The job has special qualifications.

“I was asked to field 10 balls, bounced off the ground or walls, to see if I had the skills needed for the job,” Mary Murphy said. “There were two sets of interviews where I was asked some interesting situational questions.”

One question centered on what she would do if an adult grabbed for a ball while she was giving it away. Her answer?

“I’d just be sure the child got a ball before the game ended,” Murphy said.

Another query: the nicest thing she’d ever done for anyone.

Answer: “I surprised my mom at work once when she was having a very bad day.”

Two girls worked each home game, a total of 20 each year. The pay is just a little north of minimum wage.

“I’d have done it for free. It was an amazing experience,” Murphy said.

Jenny Murphy, who followed her friend to the program a year later, agreed.

“The coolest part was meeting some of the players and watch little kid’s eyes light up when I gave them a ball,” she remembered.

Mary Murphy added that it was special when certain teams came to town.

“Being able to get close to Yankee stars like Derek Jeter or Alex Rodriguez was pretty cool,” she said.

Cook noted a few rules the girls had to observe. Like the one about asking for autographs — “a real no-no,” Mary Murphy said.

“We consider this as the player’s office,” Cook noted.

“They already get a lot of attention from the fans,” he said.

Both girls said there had been problems in the past with ball girls taking advantage of their position, like asking for batter’s gloves or bugging a player.

“I think a ball girl bears a lot of responsibility as a Mariner representative in front of all those people,” Mary Murphy said.

Other perks include getting to keep the shirts with their names stitched on, and the impact the job might have on future employers.

“No doubt, it looks good on an application. I might go back and look for a job with the Mariners someday,” Murphy said.

That would suit Cook just fine.

“Mary and Jenny did a great job for us,” he said. “This is not a job you can just throw someone into without training or skills. Their work ethic was excellent.”

Jenny Murphy thinks the experience taught her and Mary a few basics. “When you go for a job you need to be positive, have a good attitude and show a prospective employer what you can do for them, not the other way around.”

The team actively seeks qualified athletes in community college because they have a more flexible schedule. Cook said any young person interested in the fielder program can call the Mariner organization at 206-346-4000.