By SPENCER BATES
OLEAN — The story of the Olean softball team’s 7-6 victory over Fredonia could have been an incredibly different one.
Holding a two-run lead with two outs on the board, the Huskies’ starting pitcher, freshman Tiana Maine, faced a bases-loaded situation. A base hit from the Hillbillies would have turned the tables. Pressure continued to mount as Maine’s 14th walk of the day cut her team’s advantage in half.
But, in a show of true mettle, Maine slammed the door shut on Fredonia, sealing the win with just her second strikeout of the day — sitting the batter down on just four pitches.
Recording perhaps the biggest strikeout of her tenure in the circle for the Huskies thus far, Maine let fly an impassioned celebration and was mobbed by her teammates and coaches who joined in.
“What an amazing strikeout to finish the game,” Olean head coach Ryan Nawrot said. “With the amount of pressure she was under … that’s a tremendous amount of focus on her behalf at the end to finish it. She was a little bit on and off throughout the game with those walks, but she found it at the end. For a freshman pitcher, under that kind of pressure, to find that focus and to just pitch it to her and trust her infielders and outfielders behind her, it was awesome.”
But as Nawrot alluded, the win was a testament to the impact made by each and every player on the team.
Notably, the Olean defense held Fredonia, which connected on more than a few of Maine’s pitches, to just three hits all game. Highlighting the staunch effort was Alyx Henzel. Responsible for some crucial outs, she turned on the jets to chase down a number of fly balls even her coach was sure were hits.
“She did an amazing job,” Nawrot said. “She hustled every single play and she got a couple that I thought would get into the gap. There was one hit where I saw the ball floating up in the air, I didn’t realize how fast she was, and she got to that ball so quick and made that catch. … And the fact that there were so many balls hit (to right field) tells me that their team was having a tough time keeping up with Tiana’s pitching and her speed. So, I mean, just all around it was incredible to watch.”
Olean’s Alyx Henzel (3) swings at a pitch against Fredonia. Henzel scored a run and made several critical defensive plays for the Huskies in their win. (Spencer Bates)
To win ball games, coaches often speak of needing at least two of three key elements: pitching, defense and hitting. The Huskies had all three on the day.
After failing to record a hit through the first two frames, Olean made the necessary adjustments and over the third and fourth innings, did all the damage required to secure the result. In the eyes of Nawrot, it was less of a mechanical change that was made throughout the lineup, but a mental one.
“I feel it was a confidence thing with them,” Nawrot said. “We knew that we could hit both pitchers that we were seeing tonight. And finally, when we got that confidence, it was in that third inning when we opened things up. Then we saw it carry over into the fourth inning. … We’re way better of a hitting team, I said that to them in our postgame talk. … It’s that confidence. If they come up with that confidence, see it and attack it, they’re gonna be a tremendous hitting team for the rest of the season.”
Leading the way for the Huskies offensively was Allison Anastasia, who went 2-for-4 with a run and three RBI, and Anna Bates, who finished 2-for-3 with three RBI. The latter of the two garnered significant praise from Nawrot, but not just for the number of solid games she’s had at the plate recently, but for the impact she makes behind the plate as an experienced catcher as well.
“She’s our leading hitter as far as batting averages go,” Nawrot said. “She’s got so much power under that bat. She’s got probably the most RBIs on the team. It’s so nice to have her there at that number 4 spot. Her vision at the plate and on defense is great. … The awareness she has on defense is really good, and that’s helped us tremendously with getting those outs that we need to back up the walks. It’s a full team effort that we’re seeing from all these girls. … There’s a lot of great stuff coming out of this.”
The victory avenged the narrow 4-3 loss Olean suffered on the road at Fredonia earlier this season and snapped the Hillbillies’ seven-game win streak.
The Huskies will look to carry the momentum of the win into their next game at Jamestown on May 7 at 5 p.m.
AT OLEAN
Fredonia 310 100 1 R:6 H:3 E:1
Olean 003 400 X R:7 H:7 E:0
Fred: Delcamp (2 SO, 3 BB), Hodkin (1 SO, 1 BB) and Draggett
OL: Maine (2 SO, 14 BB) and Bates
