The 5-year-old Salem resident has a way to go before she can fill the shoes of the Red Sox captain, but she proved this week that she could hold her own against the boys at Endicott College's Legends Baseball clinic.
Of the 38 children ages 5 to 12 who participated in the clinic, Olivia was the only girl. Armed with a hot pink helmet, bat, gloves and even pink socks, she took to the field each day and performed all the drills, earning the admiration of her coaches and the parents in the stands.
"We call her 'Lady Luck,'" said Mike Costantino, Endicott's baseball coach, who runs the clinic with his brother, Dave. "The thing about her is she's so good about bonding with the other kids. She's not shy at all."
Olivia's mother, Brenda Nygren, said her daughter's ease around boys comes from having two older brothers and several boy cousins. The baseball field is Olivia's second home, Nygren said, since both she and her husband coach Little League in Salem.
"I was coaching softball when she was in utero," Nygren said. "Her life has grown up around baseball, so this is natural."
At home, Olivia slugs Wiffle balls in the backyard with her mother pitching and Daisy, their dog, playing outfield. The arrangement works out well, Nygren said, since "everyone gets a workout."
Olivia's pitching and outfielding skills still have room for improvement, but that's OK since she is set on becoming a catcher, just like her hero, Varitek. Her preoccupation with the Sox captain began on one of her many visits to Fenway Park, when he waved to the crowd above the visitors' dugout, where friends of the Nygrens have season tickets.
"Oh my god, Mommy! He waved at me!" Nygren recalled her daughter saying. "Ever since that game, it's been, 'Mommy, I want to be a catcher.'"
Being the only girl at the clinic has its perks, Olivia told her mother. For one, she never has to wait to use the bathroom. Also, she has her pick of the boys - she has been eyeing one sandy-haired 11-year-old in particular.
When she hits the field, though, Olivia is all business. She pays close attention to her coaches' directions, keeps her eye fixed on the ball and plays until her pink Red Sox cap is stained with sweat.
"She's fun to watch, cute as a button," said Mike DeChane of Danville, N.H., who drove down with his son for the weeklong clinic.
"I think it's awesome," he said of seeing a girl on the field.
A few of the boys were not of the same opinion, Nygren said. She noticed them giving her daughter a hard time now and then, pointing out to the coaches when she was tagged out during base-stealing exercises or when she missed a step during relay exercises.
Olivia has not yet realized there are no women in Major League Baseball, and her parents refuse to discourage her from pursuing her dream. Eventually, though, they figure she'll switch to softball.
Asked whether she will continue to play with the boys when she is older, Olivia hesitated slightly and said, "No, I think they won't let me."
When the subject turned to her favorite team, though, her attitude immediately changed.
"I will be on the Red Sox," she said.
