Olivia Robinson didn’t allow herself to get too excited. She had been down this road too many times during her four years at Crothersville High School, and this past spring, it was a familiar path.
Crothersville had enough girls to field a softball team after not having one for the past two seasons. Robinson and fellow senior Kate Frazier both tried to recruit girls over the past couple of years to play softball, but it never worked out.
“It was really upsetting because we’d get so close and then people would back out,” Robinson said.
Heading into this spring, Robinson said they had a lot of girls sign up. The thought was there would be a team this season, but Robinson didn’t want to get her hopes up.
She ended up being correct in feeling that way.
“It got cut as usual,” Robinson said.
Robinson and Frazier were both disappointed they wouldn’t get to play ball in their final spring as seniors at Crothersville, but then something unique happened about two weeks after the softball team was cut.
The Tigers’ baseball team didn’t have enough boys, so one of their players, Lucas Hilton, asked Robinson if she wanted to join the baseball team. Frazier was asked, as well, and the two decided together it was something they wanted to do.
“When they asked me, it was just kind of sense to do it,” Frazier said. “I talked it over with my parents, but there wasn’t much thought to it. Once they asked, I knew it was something I wanted to do.”
Frazier had actually been approached with this idea in the past. It was her sophomore year, and she had the thought of playing on the baseball team, but after speaking with a member on the roster, she got the vibe the rest of the boys wouldn’t be comfortable with her joining.
But since Frazier was asked this time around and it was her final chance to run out onto the diamond her senior year, she jumped at the opportunity, especially with Robinson joining her for the ride.
“The whole team has been really accepting of it,” Frazier said. “They’ve always been willing to help in any way that they could. They’ve been really accepting of having us girls on the team. I’ve never had any problems.”
“They were more accepting than I thought they would be,” Robinson said. “Some of the other teams thought it was weird.”
The Tigers as a team struggled to get any wins this season, but they did manage to have some fun moments scoring runs and celebrating those runs in the dugout.
For Robinson and Frazier, they each got a couple of hits this season.
“Most people see us as girls, so they don’t expect us to get hits and get on base,” Robinson said.
Robinson and Frazier also were the only seniors on the team this season, making it possible for Crothersville to host a senior night, which the Tigers held May 3.
They were both honored before the game, and Crothersville set up red solo cups in the fence to spell out “senior” with #5 and #9 on each side of the word to represent their numbers.
“It was great to have our senior night,” head coach Eric Hilton said that night. “Very excited to have the two girls on the baseball team. They’ve stepped up and done well. Exciting to have seniors back on the team.”
The two had a blast playing this season, as well. Robinson said playing on the baseball team is one of the things she’ll miss the most because of how much fun she had this season.
Frazier echoed those sentiments, saying the bus rides and dugout celebrations after scoring runs were always fun to be a part of.
Robinson is going to Anderson University this fall for college, and she’s going to study biochemistry in hopes of becoming an OB/GYN. She job-shadowed an OB/GYN recently, and that’s what piqued her interest to go into that field.
“I’ve always wanted to be a doctor, but I really didn’t know what kind until recently,” Robinson said.
Frazier also will be going to Anderson University and studying biochemistry. She wants to go to medical school after that en route to eventually becoming a pediatrician.
“When I was little, I used to take care of my grandmother’s mother with her, and my grandmother used to be a nurse and told me of all the things she did,” Frazier said. “That’s where it really piqued my interest. I have a huge family, and I love children and love being around children. That’s how I knew it’d be that field, but I’ve always known it’d be something medical.”
After sharing time on the diamond this spring, Robinson and Frazier will be rooming together this fall at Anderson and might even play some intramural softball or baseball together while in college.
“I’m excited,” Robinson said.
“I had a very good high school experience,” Frazier said. “I’m excited to see where the future takes me.”