BRUSH PRAIRIE — As the Prairie softball team marched through each of the 10 innings it took to beat Stadium of Tacoma last weekend in the 3A bi-district tournament, Olivia Meyers was able to slow things down from the circle.
“Keep holding them,” she told herself as her 13 strikeouts kept the underdog Falcons in it. “Just keep it up. You’re doing good.”
Though it helped, it wasn’t just positive self-talk fueling the sophomore. She could hear and feel the support of her teammates behind her in the infield. Their support was loud and clear during what Meyers would go on to consider the best stint of pitching she’s put together.
“Having (teammates) on the field coming up, giving me high fives, pulling in after every out and giving me props helps, it makes me less nervous,” Meyers said.
It’s been year full of adjustments, added pitches and confidence-building for Meyers in a season in which Prairie went from a third-place finish in the 3A Greater St. Helens League to advancing the 3A state tournament, which begins Friday in Lacey.
Meyers went from limited relief pitcher last season to a starter this season, tasked as a sophomore with filling the void of two glaring departures in the pitching rotation.
For someone who has played softball since she was eight years old, Meyers had played every position on the field except second base, yet she had never been a starting pitcher.
Enter Mariah Dawson.
Prairie’s second-year head coach, and former Union pitching standout saw potential in Meyers. The two went back to basics.
“Mariah will come over and be like, ‘have you thrown this pitch?’ and when I say no, she shows me the grip, and I kind of just go with it,” Meyers said. “I try it out … trial and error. She’ll ask me if it’s low, high and shows me how to adjust my grip. Then I see how it works best for me and just practice a lot.”
Meyers says it’s helped her enhance her arsenal of pitches throughout the season.
Some came more naturally than others. She was able to pick up the two-seam (softball’s version of a curveball) quickly, as she was with all of her outside pitches. But her drop ball took more practice. It requires her to hit a more precise spot to entice batters to swing.
Dawson taught her to practice throwing at a traffic cone, a drill that helps her hone in on her rise by aiming just above the top of the cone to simulate a strike zone.
“That really helps me hit my spots,” she said. “I can do it at home. It helps me stay consistent.”
She also gets advice from her older sister, Kelsey Meyers, a former all-league pitcher at Skyview.
And her teammates have helped encourage her as she fills the shoes of graduated pitchers Josie Lesmeister and Chloe Blehm. Senior Kylee Snider has known Meyers since she was four years old and said she is impressed and proud of the way she has stepped up. Snider said she refers to Meyers as “Little Lou.”
“I’m comfortable,” Meyers said. “I think I’ve started to reach my peak. At the beginning of the season I was up and down with throwing strikes and having a really good game then a bad game. Throwing at bi-districts, a lot and in back-to-back games really helped me carry my momentum. It took a while to get used to.”
In Meyers’ clutch 10-inning performance, Prairie walked away with a win after a Snider two-run walk-off home run. Snider is hitting .559 on the season — .657 in league play — and has led Prairie’s potent offense.
The Falcons face Marysville-Pilchuck at noon on Friday at Regional Athletic Complex in Lacey.
Sure, Prairie has taken its lumps throughout the season. But the team feels as though they can beat anyone.
“We know our ability,” senior Clarissa Martinez said. “Our stats say otherwise. But we know our ability and potential.”
