WESTPORT—It was the spring of 2020 and much of the world had simply shut down.
People were masking up, searching desperately for toilet paper, and trying not to become a statistic as the COVID-19 pandemic surged around the world.
In the Fairfield County town of Westport, however, a 12-year-old girl had had enough of being cooped up in her bedroom and seeing her friends and classmates via a Zoom window on a laptop.
Olivia Schwartz wanted to get outside, and get back inside the circle to start pitching again.
Knowing that 40 feet from rubber to home plate was well beyond the CDC’s 15-foot guidelines for being safe in the company of others, Schwartz did just that.
From Meyer Field to Wakeman Field to Greens Farms Academy to the Integrated Sports Training facility in Norwalk, Schwartz started pitching again in anticipation of what she hoped would be a modified 12U summer season.
“I would be just in my room all day doing Zoom school, so I did kind of get cabin fever a little bit,” she said. “It was a nice feeling to get out and do something.”
Five years later, with the pandemic nothing but a distance memory, Schwartz still loves being in the circle, toeing the rubbing and firing the ball to the plate.
With one more season left at Staples High School, Schwartz also knows that her career will not be ending any time soon.
Earlier this month, she verbally committed to take her pitching skills to Union College.
“I just liked the community there,” Schwartz said. “I don’t know, but I just think when I was there I could see the school spirit. Everyone was showing up for each other. The athletes were showing up for each other’s sports. And I just really liked that kind of vibe and everyone showing up to support each other.”
Since she was pulled into the sport by her first grade best friend, who invited her to a softball jamboree at Staples High, being a part of a softball team has always been the most important aspect of the sport.
“That was my first taste of softball and I just loved it so much,” Schwartz said. “And, obviously, it helped that my friends were playing.”
Immediately, Schwartz became intrigued by the person who got to start each and every play—the pitcher.
All she needed was a chance, but a couple of people stood in the way. Her parents and her coach.
“I just thought it looked cool and I just really wanted to try it,” Schwartz said. “I just kept asking (my coach) if I could pitch and if I remember my parents didn’t want me to, so I just kept bothering everybody about it. They finally let me do it and I really liked it. Obviously, I’m still pitching.”
Schwartz was a bit undersized when she was younger and she knew she didn’t throw hard. As such, she had to learn how to make the ball move.
“I was kind of a tiny kid and I never really threw that fast. I still kind of don’t,” Schwartz said.
Under the tutelage of Charlie Judge, her pitching coach at the time, she learned how to throw a screw ball.
That changed everything.
“Once I saw that kind of success with my screw I’d be like, hey, it’s really fun making people look (bad) when I throw a really good one,” Schwartz said. “I really found this movement really works and I didn’t really have to worry about not throwing so hard.”
Midway through her high school career, Schwartz–who also plays second base and right field–switched pitching coaches and started seeing former University of New Haven pitching coach Emily Komornik.
She has since developed a vicious curve and drop curve to go along with a fastball that naturally drops and a change-up, too.
Union College coach Chris Comino noticed her spin rate during a prospects clinic and so began the recruiting process.
“He was the first coach I really talked to so, yeah, it was reassuring,” Schwartz said. “Obviously you see the girls on TV, Karlyn Pickens and stuff, throwing like 79, and you’re like, ‘Oh God, I don’t do that. I can’t throw that fast.’ So it was reassuring to know that that’s okay, that spin is really what you want.”
Growing up in Westport, she played for the CT Wreckers until she was 14. She has since played for the CT Jags and CT Thunder, where she is currently a part of the Newtown-based program’s 18U Premier team.
She has also been a four-year player at Staples, seeing spot action behind a senior starter last season–much to the surprise of some opponents.
“My team had a lot of trouble with her,” said Brien McMahon coach Michael Lanuk, whose team was three-hit by Schwartz last season. “We faced pitchers that may have thrown a little harder than her, but we had a ton of trouble with her. I think mainly it was because of the movement of her pitches, and she throws a lot of strikes. She doesn’t put a lot of girls on base. Her composure is really good. I mean, I don’t think I have anything negative to say about her.”
Two weeks later, in a rematch with the Wreckers, the Senators had eight hits against Staples’ senior starter and scored a couple of runs, as well.
Staples is without a head coach right now, but Schwartz is looking forward to one more season with the Wreckers to see what kind of foundation the squad can start to rebuild heading to the future.
“Well, I want to win, of course,” she said. “First of all, I want us to get a coach and I know I kind of just want to enjoy it. I basically know where I’m going to go to school. I’m not really going to be stressed about that. I just kind of want to have fun my last year playing high school softball.”
Five years ago, in the midst of global pandemic, Olivia Schwartz had to get out of the house and back into the pitcher’s circle.
She hasn’t stopped throwing since and now will get a chance to do it in college, as well.
Leave a Reply