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Amesbury's Oliva and Hathaway among the CAL's best

Thursday, April, 17 By John Shimer
Staff writer

One player has made herself into the heir apparent to Ashley Waters and the other has been a prime example of versatility in playing three different positions in her four-year varsity career.

In baseball or softball, the saying goes pitching and catching are the two most important positions on the field, the outcome of the game is in their hands because each player is involved in every pitch of the game.

At Amesbury, the Indians have two the best going in pitching phenom Jordan Oliva and All-Cape Ann League catcher Katie Hathaway.

Looking back at the beginning of each player's career, coach Chris Perry said he would have been hard-pressed to guess that Oliva and Hathaway would have landed where they are today.

Yet after eclipsing the 30-win plateau in the first game of her final season, Oliva (33-6 career record) continues to carve out her place amongst the great pitchers in school history like Ashley Waters, Sarah Savastano (60-game winner), and the dominant pitchers of the 80s.

"If you had asked me when these girls were coming out of eighth-grade which girl in their class would have won 30 games, I probably wouldn't have picked Jordan," said Perry, who works at Amesbury Middle School and generally has his eye on the softball prospects. "People knew when Ashley (Waters) and Sarah (Savastano)  were coming out that they were going to be great, but Jordan really snuck up and surprised a lot of people. She's a little kid, but she's worked countless hours to get where she is."

In Hathaway, Perry has one the best utility players in a long while at Amesbury.

"Katie has played everywhere for us," said Perry. "Her freshman year she was a part-time outfielder, then we switched her over to first base when we lost that player to graduation, and then she made the transition to catcher last year after another one of our players graduated. The only position on the field that is more difficult is pitcher, and she made herself into a real good defensive player."

Hard work breeds success, and in Perry's pitcher-catcher combination he has two players that are constantly working to better their craft.

"Unless you're a pitcher I don't think most people realize how many hours goes into the position," Perry conveyed. "As a freshman, despite the fact Jordan was playing on JV we had her up practicing with Ashley (Waters) and the varsity team, and Ashley was so possessed she learned the work ethic it takes to be successful. Now Jordan will pitch six days a week anywhere from 300-500 pitches in practice, which makes it that much easier when she pitches 100 or so pitches in the game.

"Katie just brings intensity to field. Whether in practice or a game, she doesn't turn it on or off, she's always working hard," explained Perry. "There's an old adage, 'The harder you work the luckier you are going to get,' and Katie lives by that. I can't really say enough about her. You know what you're going to get when she comes up to the plate."

There is also a comfort level between Oliva and Hathaway. The friends off the field also have a seemingly telepathic connection when it comes to attacking hitters.

"As far as calling the game, we are on the exact same page," Jordan said. "She always remembers what they did the last time up, and we have the same exact idea of what to throw on pretty much every pitch."

"We both are always studying the batters all the time | their swing, stance, hand speed, how far away from the plate, where their front foot is placed," Hathaway continued. "We'll both see something and try to attack a weakness."

And both say they feed off each other.

But, for Perry's sake, just having those two players on the team has been the fun part.

"They're both really good kids and good students," Perry stated. "Both do community service by helping out with camps in the summer. They produce on the field, they show up early and stay late. But they are fun. I wish it was that easy all the time."