Olivia Forrest follows lineage of all-state Hartland softball pitcher

HARTLAND — Perhaps no athlete in Livingston County came into the spring under more pressure than Hartland sophomore pitcher Olivia Forrest.

Forrest is not only following in the lineage of two recent all-state softball pitchers at Hartland, but she was taking over the most important position on the field for a team coming off a state championship.

So, yeah, there’s a lot of pressure, but that’s what Forrest signed up for.

“It’s been a goal and a dream of mine ever since I moved here in fifth grade,” Forrest said. “I’ve just always wanted to be on the team and be on the field and be able to play.

“I love being on the mound pitching, being the center of the game. I’m always in the game and I constantly have something to do, to think about.”

Forrest looks to be the next great pitcher at Hartland after Rachel Everett had three all-state seasons from 2018-21 and Kylie Swierkos made all-state after pitching the Eagles to the Division 1 title last spring.

Forrest has a 1.17 earned run average through 16 appearances after pitching Hartland to a 5-4 victory over Howell Wednesday in the first game of a doubleheader. It was only the second time in 11 starts she’s allowed more than two runs.

Like Swierkos did as a sophomore during Everett’s senior year, Forrest benefited from learning behind an all-stater who pitched in a state championship game.

“I learned a lot,” Forrest said. “I learned how to mentally be more stable and not let little things get in my head. Even if something’s not working, I work through it and act like it’s still working and not show everyone.”

She still leans on Swierkos’ wisdom, even though the Eagles’ ace from last season is now pitching at Grand Valley State University.

“I still talk to her,” Forrest said. “I talk to her after some games. If something’s not working, I’ll text her and ask, ‘Hey, what would you do?’

"It's a lot of pressure, especially after Kylie, who is such an amazing pitcher. Coming in, not being in the same grade; she was a senior, I'm a sophomore this year."

Forrest didn’t pitch during the state tournament last season, but got plenty of varsity experience. She started 11 of the team’s 40 games, pitching 62⅔ innings. She was 9-2 with a 3.13 ERA and 44 strikeouts.

“She was a great learner and she wanted to learn and get better,” Hartland coach Taylor Wagner said. “She worked her butt off this offseason to be as dominant as she’s been.

“Ever since she’s been young, she’s seen Rachel Everett and then Kylie Swierkos and now that’s her. She’s in that role and she wants to be even better than those Hartland greats. That’s what I think is driving her.”

Before Wednesday, Forrest allowed only four runs in 63⅔ innings when pitching the first game of the day for Hartland this season. Howell, which was the victim of a perfect game Monday, kept the stress on Forrest until the end of the game, cutting the deficit to one run after Hartland scored all five of its runs in the second inning to go up 5-0.

Forrest kept Howell scoreless in the sixth following a lead-off double by Brooke Keller, then retired the side in order in the seventh.

“It was a bigger challenge, because I had to figure out which pitches they were more likely to swing and miss at or not swing at that were still in the strike zone,” she said. “I had to try to figure out where they wouldn’t hit the ball the hardest so our team would have the bigger advantage.”

Hartland completed the sweep with an 8-6 victory, extending its winning streak in its rivalry with Howell to nine games since a 20-2 loss on April 3, 2019.

Forrest pitched the final five innings, allowing two runs. She also drove in three runs.

Kate McIntyre was 3-for-4 and Sadie Malik was 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Howell's Ava Bunting was 3-for-3.

Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Olivia Forrest is Hartland softball ace after learning from all-stater