Future and present both bright for young, talented Olympia softball team

The future is now for Olympia High School softball.

Despite a youthful roster, the Bears were undefeated, 8-0, going into their game with winless 4A South Puget Sound League tailender Bellarmine Prep on Tuesday.

With standout players in every class, Olympia could on the verge of a memorable multi-year run.

Seniors Gracie Ray and Kiani Wellner anchor the Bears up the middle. Shortstop Ray hit .367 with two home runs during those first eight games while second baseman Wellner was at .357.

“They’ve been great,” said first-year coach Jason Stensby, a long-time Bears assistant who left for a stint as a Timberline assistant before taking over Olympia this season. “Gracie’s my captain. She runs a tight ship, keeps everything in order.”

Ray and Wellner hit at the top of the order and often get things moving.

“Gracie is very consistent getting on base. Kiani’s very consistent as well. She’s very, very quick,” said Stensby.

The Bears leading hitter, by average or slash line, is freshman Ava Bautista, at .455 with a 1.338 OPS. Next are a pair of juniors in catcher Laila Smith (.370/1.171) and center fielder Alyssa Hoff (.370). Smith’s twin Tori plays first base and pitches.

“Laila’s always hit well. I’ve known of her since she was little and coached her on and off through the years,” Stensby said. “She’s got a great eye. She hits a heavy ball. When she gets hold of it, it goes.”

A year behind Ray and Wellner, Smith feels a responsibility to help lead as well.

“I’ve always been a natural leader,” she said. “I like helping people get comfortable with other people.”

The workhorse pitcher is sophomore Sami Potvin, 7-0 with a 1.07 earned run average. With a pitch speed reaching a college-worthy 63 miles per hour, Potvin also brings other tools to the circle. She says she likes to rely on her fielders but goes to her rise ball to strike out batters.

“She puts the ball wherever in the zone we need her to, north, south, east, west,” said Stensby. “She has good movement for such a young age.”

Potvin quickly embraced her role as Olympia’s ace, citing the supportive atmosphere she found when she arrived as a freshman.

“It was hard, though. You feel a need to prove that you can hold your own playing against seniors,” she said. “My confidence grew throughout the season.”

After she struck out seven in six-plus innings of shutout relief in a 5-4 extra inning win over Puyallup, Potvin felt she’d arrived.

“Ending that game, beating such a solid team, was the best feeling ever,” she said.

Bautista hasn’t been a total surprise. Though the Bears play for a variety of club teams and as a 14U player she didn’t always match up against her 16U high school teammates during the summer, they knew she was coming.

“Softball’s a pretty small community, so we’ve all known each other,” Bautista said.

Stensby points to Bautista’s decisiveness in the batter’s box.

“She’s got great hands. She identifies the pitches she wants to hit and goes right after them,” he said. “A freshman has to be pretty special. They’re facing kids that are three, four years older.”

Bautista admits to wondering how she would do against varsity competition, but once she blasted a home run in the Bears home opener against Black Hills knew she belonged.

She can also pitch, though with Potvin ahead of her she’s made only one appearance so far, a three-plus inning relief stint in a 4-3 win over Bethel.

That game at Bethel was one of only two close games the Bears have played. They opened with a 2-0 victory at 2A power W.F. West and the Bearcats’ ace pitcher Kamy Dacus, The Olympian’s 2021 All-Area player of the year.

The outcome convinced the Bears they could be good.

“Going into that game, the girls were very nervous. It was palpable,” Stensby said. “I’m a calm coach. I told everybody ‘just do your job and everything will take care of itself.’”

Ray walked to start the game, eventually scoring on a Laila Smith grounder. In the second, Bautista singled to center in her first high school at-bat and scored on a single by fellow freshman Avery Mauldin.

“That was all Sami needed. She shut the door on them,” Stensby said. Potvin allowed W.F. West just two singles, walked no one and struck out 11. “We got a little swag after that one. The girls realized they can compete with anyone.”

Now, a run to the 4A state tournament doesn’t seem unreasonable.

“From the beginning that’s been our goal,” said Potvin.

To get there, the Bears believe they need to be more consistent and strike earlier, instead of relying on big innings later in the game. Stensby wants to see his team string more hits together. The players think they can improve their effort.

“We need to start off with a high level of energy and keep it high the whole game,” said Smith.

One thing Olympia seems to have accomplished is bonding.

“The team aspect is welcoming and laid back, which lets everyone play loose,” said Bautista. “We all have fun when we play, which is important. When everyone plays relaxed, we play really well.”

Smith added, “We all connected immediately as players. Outside of softball, we’re all pretty good friends. There’s no drama, which is pretty rare.”

Potvin feels the support during games.

“If you strike out or you pop up, our team is going to support you. You know a hit will come later,” she said.

Regardless of this season’s outcome, the Bears understand their potential going forward.

“It’s awesome to see the program just building and building,” Smith said. “More people are coming out to try it and getting better and better.”