OLIVIA PICHARDO

It must be very tough to be a woman.

Of course, I have no first-hand knowledge, no legitimate understanding…because I’m a man.

Mars and Venus; Venus and Mars.

But I do know this:

Generally speaking, women are smarter and tougher than men.

They have to be.

And I’ve thought this way forever.

Until she died when I was nine years old, my maternal grandmother lived with us in our comfortable home.

She was an academic of the highest repute.

She knew it but didn’t flaunt it.

Ever.

My mother–her daughter–was also extremely intelligent.

My father, too, was quite smart and took a back seat to nobody.

He took names and numbers, and always knew the score.

In his own way, he helped me understand the gravity, strength and power of women, truth be told.

After all he lived in the same house with his mother-in-law, willingly, it seemed.

Regardless–digression aside–we come to Olivia Pichardo.

(No relation, familially).

Olivia Pichardo is the first woman to make the roster of an NCAA Division I baseball team.

This is a very big deal.

Beyond the obvious.

She would not be deterred, dissuaded, railroaded or bullied.

She would not be denied.

She kept trying.

She kept playing the game she loved.

She kept enjoying it.

She’s super excited for what awaits her at Brown University.

“It’s kind of crazy to know that I’m living out my dream right now and my ideal college experience that I’ve always wanted, so that’s really cool,” she said in a media release.

She remarked further that although being named to the team–whose season begins in February–was “surreal,” her goal since eighth grade was to continue playing baseball in and through college.

She walked on at Brown, and following tryouts and a rather grueling assessment process, she truly impressed baseball head coach Grant Achilles.

As an infielder, an outfielder and a pitcher.

Her gender was her gender.

So?

Achilles explained that the tryout “is a workout common for baseball and allows us to evaluate athleticism and arm strength, as well as both offensive and defensive skills.”

“Olivia put together the most complete walk-on tryout I have seen from a player since becoming a head coach.”

He is entering his ninth season as Brown’s Head Baseball Coach.

This year, she was also named to the roster of the USA Baseball Women’s National Team as a right-handed pitcher and outfielder.

Pichardo deserves this.

A first-year student from Queens, she has worked feverishly for what she’s wanted.

And she is fully aware that the journey is just beginning.

At Brown, she will toggle baseball with an Ivy League curriculum.

“It’s stressful, but it’s the stress that I want,” she said.

“I played sports my whole life, so I feel like having sports and then having my academics, it’s just a good balance for me.”

“I’m just really glad that we’re having more and more female baseball players at the collegiate level, and no matter what division, it’s just really good to see this progression.

It’s really paving the way for other girls in the next generation to also have these goals that they want to achieve and dream big and know that they can do it.”

Bravo Olivia!

Couldn’t have said it better.

[Editor’s Note: This piece was written by Mr. Kaplan in December 2022.]