PHILADELPHIA — On Monday afternoon, Phillies outfielder Brandon Marsh received a text from his mother, Sonja. He was in Detroit for a three-game series against the Tigers, and she was in Eugene, Ore., to watch his sister compete in the U.S. Olympic track and field trials.

Erin Marsh is one of the best heptathletes on the planet — ranked 10th in the United States, and 56th in the world — but she was not having her best day. She suffered a hamstring injury a few weeks earlier, and was starting to feel it. She had begun to fall in the standings, and by the time she reached her final event, the 800-meter dash, she had been statistically eliminated from qualifying for the Olympics.

It was a demoralizing moment. So, Sonja asked her son to lift his sister up.

“Erin is pretty bummed,” she said. “Just reach out to her and tell her how she should finish that 800.”

Brandon obliged.

“Just enjoy it,” he wrote. “You’re one of the very, very few that are able to compete here. Finish the 800 strong, like your life depended on it, and then we relax. I love you so much. You’re so special, Erin. Keep being you and smiling big. You’re the best ever.”

A few hours later, Brandon ran out to center field, as Erin ran two laps around the track. She finished just five seconds short of a personal record.

Her brother’s words resonated, as they usually do.

“He’s been in high-pressure moments,” Erin said. “He knows the ins and outs of the day-to-day sacrifices. So, it always helps when he texts me stuff like that.”

Both of the Marsh children found their future callings in high school in Georgia. Brandon, 26, was a multisport athlete, who had offers to play Division I football, but was selected by the Angels in the second round of the 2016 MLB draft at age 17. Erin, 24, dabbled in softball and cheerleading, and found her way to track through cross country.

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