Brown provides first girl to energetic D1 baseball varsity roster

Olivia Pichardo, a freshman utility participant and walk-on at Brown, turned the primary girl to make an energetic NCAA Division I Baseball varsity roster this fall, the varsity introduced on Monday.

Pichardo was a pitcher and outfielder for the USA Baseball Girls’s Nationwide Staff this previous summer time. She beforehand performed varsity baseball in Queens, New York, and performed membership baseball for the New York Crush and Subsequent Degree Baseball.

Brown baseball coach Grant Achilles mentioned he was impressed by Pichardo’s athleticism throughout her preliminary tryout and in subsequent practices.

Achilles, who’s getting into his ninth season as coach, mentioned Pichardo had “essentially the most full walk-on tryout I’ve seen from a participant since turning into a head coach.”

A utility participant who can play each within the infield and outfield, Pichardo was certainly one of 31 gamers to make the roster for the upcoming spring season.

Pichardo realized that she made the roster throughout a crew assembly on Oct. 4.

“It was positively a surreal second for me as a result of it is one thing that I’ve wished since eighth grade,” Pichardo mentioned in a information launch. “It is sort of loopy to know that I am dwelling out my dream proper now and my ideally suited school expertise that I’ve at all times wished, in order that’s actually cool.”

Brown’s first recreation is Feb. 24 at Georgia State.

In line with the non-profit group Baseball for All, practically 20 girls have made school baseball rosters. However Pichardo is the primary to take action on the NCAA Division-I stage.

“I am simply actually making an attempt to develop myself as a baseball participant and never making an attempt to assume too broadly,” Pichardo mentioned in a information launch. “For me, I at all times simply wished to play school baseball, it doesn’t matter what division it was. This faculty occurs to be a Division I crew that I walked onto.”