When Olivia Glasser first heard about the Minnesota Twins starting a national girls baseball team at the 14U level, it almost seemed too good to be true to the then-eighth grader from Lyndhurst.
“It was a little big (surprising). I was second guessing it,” said Glasser, who was looking for a new girls baseball team to play for this summer, when she heard about the team last December. “I was hearing about how this new team was happening and they wanted me to be a part of it. It was just exciting for me and a grateful opportunity.”
The opportunity turned into reality as Glasser with the Twins Girls Baseball 14U National Team competed in the Baseball For All Nationals Tournament. The tournament, the country’s largest girls baseball tournament, was held last week in Sparks, Nevada.
Overall, the Twins went 5-2, finishing in second place out of the 12-team field. During the seven games, Glasser, primarily a catcher, also saw time in the outfield and on the mound as a pitcher.
While Glasser has appeared in the Baseball For All Nationals Tournament before, it was the first time she pitched in the tournament. She recently returned to pitching in an effort to be a more versatile player.
“I recently picked it up again just to become a reliever,” Glasser said. “It’s always good to play any position. So I’m just trying to get better at pitching so in case anyone needs me to pitch, I could pitch.
“I wasn’t nervous at all because I’ve pitched before in big tournaments. I just let it happen and I trusted my infield.”
Glasser was selected to the team after submitting videos of her playing and doing workouts as part of a virtual tryout.
While it was Glasser’s first time playing with the Twins team, she described the experience as a positive one.
“The team was great, especially with not ever playing together before,” Glasser said. “The whole tournament we did surprisingly well. We all just clicked and it was a positive atmosphere. Everyone believed in each other.”
Glasser was the only girl from the Northeast selected to the roster, which was composed primarily of players from Minnesota and Wisconsin, with one other from North Dakota.
While girls baseball has grown, the Twins became the first MLB franchise to sponsor an all-girls youth team. The impact of the Twins’ involvement was not lost on Glasser.
“I think it’s really cool and I think that it’s good for girls in baseball.”
The Baseball For All Nationals Tournament was the high point of a busy spring and summer for Glasser.
During Memorial Day weekend, she played for the East Coast Yankees, an all-female team for women of all ages in the Diamond Classic in Virginia. She also plays for the New Jersey Bats, an all-boys team in various tournaments.
In addition, Glasser trains with Metropolitan Baseball in Lyndhurst, Tally Baseball out of Bayonne, and takes personal catching lessons with the Ani Ramos Catching Academy.
Glasser will conclude her summer with a tournament in Cooperstown, NY and will compete in the Under Armour Prospects camp at Diamond Nation in Flemington.
After those events, Glasser’s attention will shift to high school. An incoming freshman at Lyndhurst, Glasser intends to try out for the volleyball and basketball teams before trying out for baseball in the spring.
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Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)