RANKINGS
EVENTS
I COMMITTED
COLLEGE
ABOUT
West Bay Warriors catcher Olivia DiNardo, #22 in the 2022 Extra Elite 100 and a selection to the 2020 Extra Inning Softball 18U All-Summer team, has always played up.
What that means in the softball world is that she always plays in an upper age group … and she has excelled.
“I met Olivia when she was only 12 (years old) and would play up on my 14U team,” Santa Clara-committed P Sage Hager said. “She was never afraid to take charge even though she was the youngest on the team. I’ve been lucky enough to work very closely with Olivia as I’m a pitcher and we work out together almost every day.”
“From a pitcher’s standpoint she has always been the person to pick me up or help me push through when I don’t have my best stuff,” Hager continues. “We’re so close that she’s called some of my best games and I trust her to know what pitch I want to throw. Not to mention she’s my favorite catcher and I don’t know the last game I’ve pitched without her catching me.”
The hurler also raves about her backstop’s leadership abilities.
“From a team perspective, Olivia is a leader on the field and the one that we look to when the team dynamic is off,”” Hager says. “Additionally, she is one of the most consistent regarding hitting and as I mentioned before my favorite catcher. She is unique because she is the most dedicated person I know. As I said, I work out with her almost daily and she works her butt off, on and off the field. While most teenagers want to be hanging out with their friends, she will be in the batting cage or doing anything possible to reach success.”
The lefty catcher who has committed to Arizona is considered one of the top players in California.
“She has a great sense for the game and stays composed through high pressure situations,” UCLA-committed MIF Megan Grant said. “She brings her leadership to the team and high energy, and lastly what makes her unique is the way she thinks, she never tries to do too much and doesn’t get discouraged when things don’t go her way, which doesn’t happen very often.”
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EXTRA STAR POWER Q&A
Name: OLIVIA DINARDO
Hometown: San Mateo, CA
High School: Aragon High, CA
Club Team: West Bay Warriors 18U
Graduation Year: 2022
Height: 5-foot-8
Position: C/1B
Nickname: odawg
Twitter: @OliviaDinardo3
High School Highlights: Batted .557 with 45 RBIs and nine home runs and received Freshman of the Year, 1st Team All-League, a CCS Champion, CO-MVP, 1st Team All-Metro and 2022 Extra Elite 100 two years in a row.
Travel Ball Fall Stats: Batted .494 and led the team with 1.646 OPS, 1.079 slugging percentage, 47 RBIs and 15 HRs.
*** Scroll down to learn more about this Top 25-ranked 2022 headed to the Pac-12…