OLIVE — It hasn’t been a gentle start for the Olive Lady Wildcats fastpitch team. Their schedule opened with a rainout, a stack of tough opponents, and more numbers than a lottery card at the Happy Corner. Losses piled up early — Prue, Depew, Varnum, Woodland, Davenport — all landing haymakers while Olive was trying to find its rhythm. Even their second shot at Woodland turned into a 17–9 slugfest that left the Lady Wildcats in the deficit.
Here’s the thing about Olive softball — they don’t quit. They don’t sulk. They just keep working bats and gloves on the dirt until the tide finally turns. Last week, it turned in the loudest way possible.
Walks, wildness, and a whole lotta runs
The first breakthrough came at Sasakwa, where the Lady Wildcats unleashed a 21–6 win that looked a lot like a football score. The hero of the day was Camber Henshaw, who showed an eye so patient it would make the school librarian proud., She drew four walks and scored in a dozen different ways. Olive didn’t need many hits — they earned 21 walks in the game and swiped 13 bases like bargain hunters in the Dollar General value aisle.
Elli Harmon and Braelyn Bartley joined the walk parade, each forcing in runs, while Jacie Jenkins and Aliyah Colbert drew bases-loaded free passes of their own. Jenkins and Henshaw both finished with four walks apiece. When Olive did swing, they made it count: Abby Ochoa belted a two-run double in the fourth, and Jenkins chipped in another knock. Navaeh McCaffrey showed speed and grit, drawing walks and stealing bases, while Jocelyn Robinson and Bartley drove in runs with groundouts and HBPs.
McCaffrey also took the ball in the circle, striking out six in four innings while allowing six runs — only four of them earned. Olive’s offense backed her up with eight runs in the first three innings, then an eight-run avalanche in the fourth that sent Sasakwa fans scurrying for cover. By the end, Olive had walked into a win — literally.
Ochoa seals the deal against New Lima
If Sasakwa was chaos, the next win at New Lima was control. Ochoa took the circle and calmly spun five innings of three-hit ball, striking out four while walking just two. It wasn’t flashy, but it was steady — exactly what the Lady Wildcats needed in a nail-biter.
The bats did just enough to earn the W. McCaffrey ripped a double to drive in Olive’s first run, Colbert went 2-for-3 to lead the lineup, and Keller swiped two bases to keep pressure on the defense. Harmon and Henshaw kept grinding atbats, while Robinson and Ochoa chipped in quality plate appearances to stretch things out.
The defense was airtight — not a single error, with MaKenzie Oliger handling five chances cleanly. It mattered, because New Lima had their own ace in Jazzy Harjo, who struck out 10 Olive hitters but couldn’t quite hold them off. Olive eked out the go-ahead run in the fourth, then Ochoa slammed the door with a 1-2-3 finish. Final score: Olive 3, New Lima 2. Small town softball, big sigh of relief.