ADNA — Tieander Olson was candid about herself as a player and new-found leader within the Adna High School softball team.
There isn’t a lot to do as a bench-role cheerleader, like she was for all but two minutes during basketball season, except to bring energy and lift teammates up. It is the opposite end of the spectrum described Olson as a freshman.
“I used to be down on myself all the time and I learned it wasn’t going to be like that,” Olson said. “When my teammates pick themselves up, they did really well. I think about that all the time.”
And at the plate as the Pirates cleanup hitter and manning the prime position of shortstop, she’s taken the approach of not overthinking.
“Just hitting every pitch (with) no thoughts in my head,” the junior said.
That worked out well.
Olson went 4-for-4, three of them for extra bases, with five runs batted in to help Adna claim a 17-6 non-league win over Raymond/South Bend at home on Thursday afternoon. It’s the highest offensive output of the season for the Pirates and it comes with a small dish of revenge.
Ten months ago at Fort Borst Park, the Ravens threw the Pirates off their ship with a 10-0 victory in the Class 2B District 4 semifinals. It was rarely brought up within the confines of the dugout.
“Is it in my mind? It always is,” Adna head coach Bruce Pocklington quipped. “I don’t put it in their minds. I just want them to go out and play hard.”
It’s been over a year since Olson suffered a knee injury that sidelined her all of Adna’s run to Spokane, but she was cleared to practice. In turn, it meant she was cleared to play softball for the first time since she was a freshman at Montesano.
Taking a year away made Olson appreciative of the sport. Being in another program that’s established a winning culture doesn’t hurt, either.
“It is not a lot different,” she said. “This team, we mold together very well.”
Her primary position is catcher, but in every game this season, she’s been the Pirates (4-1) shortstop. Olson had one error on Thursday, but game-by-game she’s figuring out how to be a varsity-level shortstop.
“There’s a lot of things that can happen,” Olson said. “You’re excited to be out there anyway.”
“She is a really good athlete, she is a great kid,” Pocklington added. “She is swinging a pretty good bat, too. This isn’t even her thing. She is a winner.”
RSB started the scoring with two runs in the top of the first. It never led the rest of the game.
Adna batted around its lineup in the first and third innings. Olson, Alyssa Carroll, Charlie Myers, Mavyn Shannon and Presley Strodemier all had at least two hits. Six of its top-seven hitters crossed home plate multiple times.
Olson’s RBI double jumpstarted the five-run first and Kimber Huber capped the frame with her own run-scoring two-bagger. After the Ravens cut the margin to two runs in the top of the third, the Pirates responded with another five-run frame.
Myers roped a two-run double in the frame while Shannon and Hadleigh Gerard notched RBI singles. Olson launched a three-run homer to put the Pirates up 10, the finishing touches of a 15-hit day for their lineup.
“All of our approaches were very similar,” Olson said. “It was really good tonight.”
Less than a week after getting torched by Toledo, Adna has put up back-to-back double digit hit performances versus fellow state qualifiers.
“I thought we did a better job of hitting our pitch,” Pocklington said. “We’ve been mixing some lineups the last week or so. Some guys are showing up and putting pressure on. When it is your chance, shine.”
Adna’s spring break will put a brief hold on the offensive momentum, but it returns to its home diamond next Saturday for two games versus Warden and Pe Ell/Willapa Valley. It marks three straight years the Pirates will take on Warden during the season.
And the contest versus the Titans have been thrillers the last two years in Yakima.
“Nobody is safe out there, nobody has a spot nailed down,” Pocklington said. “If it is your day to play, you better play hard.”
