The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Elyria’s Olsen headed to BW
Former Elyria baseball ace Hunter Olsen is taking his talents to the next level.
Olsen will be continuing his academic and athletic careers at Baldwin Wallace.
“It feels good,” Olsen said. “It feels really good knowing that I’m going somewhere and able to keep playing baseball at the next level.”
Olsen was the top pitcher on the Pioneers’ staff. He tallied two wins and compiled a 3.09 ERA in 22.2 innings pitched in 2019.
“I’m very excited for him,” Elyria head coach Ed Piazza said. “He had quite a few offers and chose to stay close to home. With BW having such a good baseball program, I knew it would be very competitive for him. I’m very happy for him. The kid worked hard for it and deserves everything he’s getting.”
The senior was Elyria’s top starter since his sophomore season. Olsen pitched through injuries and pitched in big playoff games for the Pioneers.
“The success of our program has definitely come from him,” Piazza said. “He pitched in all of the big games in districts. The last few years, he was a hard-luck loser. We lost 1-0 to St. Eds and the year before, we lost 3-2. He pitched last year with a broken index finger so he pitched the whole year with that. He took a ground ball off the end of his finger early in the season and he still ended up pitching for us and being the No. 1.”
Olsen was known for keeping his composure on the mound and handled the pressure of being the top pitcher with ease.
“He handled it a different way,” Piazza said. “He’s a very quiet kid but he just leads by example. He’s not one of those big ‘rah-rah’ guys. He just takes the ball and does his thing. You can’t tell his demeanor on the mound when we were winning or losing, it’s the same no matter what.
“I think that’s the key to all of the pitchers around. If you are a good pitcher, if you have that in you, you’re a bulldog on the mound and the kids see that. They’re going to want to play behind you.”
Olsen enjoyed playing baseball with his teammates at Elyria. Most of whom, he’s played with for the majority of his career.
“That’s because, a good chunk of them I played with since we were 10, 11 or 12-years-old,” said Olsen.
In addition to his toughness, the right-hander was also known for his leadership.
“I always tried to stay positive,” Olsen said. “Even if we were down, I always tried to stay up. I felt like we always had an inning where everyone was down and one of us made a (clutch) hit or moved someone over. It (usually) woke the whole team up and after that, it was hard to take us back down.”
Olsen also considered Hiram College before ultimately choosing to attend Baldwin Wallace. He liked what he saw from the Yellow Jackets’ coaching staff when he met with them.
“The coaching staff (is great) and they are nice, polite and willing to help with everything and anything I would need help with,” Olsen said. “They have people who can help us with fielding, lifting and everything.”