Video: How a PGF Nationals Interview with Pitcher Olivia Cainey Became A Team NC – Eaton Comedy Act!

This was one of my favorite fun moments at PGF Nationals… and I’m going to let you be in the “editor’s seat” here shortly to see how you would have conducted the interview!

It was July 31, 2019, the first day of bracket play for the 14U Premier division, and I was at Field 8 which is the far corner of the Huntington Beach Sports Complex in Huntington Beach, California.

It was later in the afternoon and one of the favorites of the week, Team NC – Eaton which two weeks before had won TC/USA Nationals—had just won its first-round game over another good North Carolina-based team, Lady Lightning Futures 6-0.

The pitching star was Olivia Cainey, a lefty pitcher with interest from SEC and ACC schools who we had ranked as a Top 25 player in the 2022 Extra Elite 100.

Olivia had just pitched a two-hitter and struck out six so I wanted to do a video interview, but… as I asked her out on the field to get away from the noise, her Team NC teammates noticed and this happened:

They are obviously watching and trying to embarrass, potentially even video-bomb Olivia’s interview… so what would YOU do?

Hmmmm?

I decided to invite the entire team to join Olivia, who goes by the nickname “Queen,” and the fun ensued… if you could only bottle that energy, wow.

Knowing that any “serious” questions would likely not go anywhere, it became silly… and I hopefully didn’t offend Coach Nathan Eaton too much as he unexpectedly and jokingly became part of the comedy act.

The team would suffer two tough losses after this game and would finish 33^rd, but their jovial spirit lives on… plus, they did win one National Championship during the summer, so not too shabby.

Check out this video… sometimes you just gotta go with the (funny) flow.

— Brentt Eads, Extra Inning Softball