Two years ago, as a freshman, Wyoming East’s Olivia Hylton had the worst moment of her career.
An error on her part against Independence in the sectional championship game cost her team runs in a game they lost 9-6 in nine innings.
Afterwards she was inconsolable as tears streamed down her face each time she returned to the dugout.
“I remember we found out before the game that our coach (Doc Warner) was being sent to the hospital,” Hylton said. “We all went out there and our heads were a mess. None of us were focused. It’s very hard to look back on that and think we were so not on our game that day.”
After Wyoming East lost the first game 9-6, it lost the second 14-5, breaking its streak of sectional championships.
Hylton more than made up for her past miscues with her work over the last week.
The junior hurler allowed just two hits in 17 innings as she picked up three wins in the Class AA Region 3, Section 1 tournament. Along the way she threw a perfect game against Westside on Wednesday, a performance East desperately needed as it won 1-0 on a walk-off in the seventh inning.
“I just kind of have to tell myself that not everything is in my control,” Hylton said. “I kind of have to do what I can do. I have to hit my spots, make sure my pitches are sharp and do everything I can to throw it as hard as I can.”
As incredible as she was in the circle against Westside on Wednesday, she was equally as impressive at the plate on Saturday.
She crushed a two-run homer in the first inning of the Region 3, Section 1 championship against Bluefield. That was just the start of a stellar afternoon as the junior finished 3-for-3 at the plate and drove in five runs. Only one was necessary as she was allowed just one hit in circle, shutting Bluefield out in the 9-0 win.
It was the perfect redemption arc for the junior who lost her sophomore season due to the pandemic, thus had to wait two years for that opportunity.
“I told myself I couldn’t let my emotions get the best of me like I did my freshman year,” Hylton said. “I was just like ‘Errors are going to happen, my bat’s not always going to be on, everybody’s going to have a bad day.’ So I had to kind of control what I could control and let everything else go.”
Her progress isn’t lost on her coach either.
Warner missed that sectional championship game, suffering a stroke the day of, but heard all about the miscue.
He wasn’t surprised to see her celebrating with her friends and family after Saturday’s win, but believes she’s just scratching the surface.
“She’s grown up a lot,” Warner said. “But she’s still got a whole lot of room to grow. She did good though. Next year, you’ll see the real Liv.”
The journey doesn’t end there for Hylton. She’ll have the opportunity to do more damage in the Region 3 championship slated to start on June 14. She’ll be pitching for a much bigger prize then – a spot in the state tournament.
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94