The good players are those who make difficult plays routine.
So when asked to review the first varsity baseball season junior Olivia Barbas had at Newark’s East Side High, head coach Ryan Cordero took a day of pondering before saying there were no highlight reel moments.
There were, however plenty of good, instinctive, heady baseball plays, which endeared Barbas - believed to be the only female, every-game, varsity baseball player in New Jersey this spring - to her coaches and teammates.
“In a game at East Orange, Olivia was playing right field and a ball was hit in the gap,” Cordero said. “It wasn’t quite a diving catch, but she got a good jump, hustled, reached out, caught it then tumbled.”
There were three, unassisted plays she made in a 5-1 win over Shabazz. The quick tag she slapped down to get a Newark Academy runner, who over ran second base, and the quick-feet that ran down a sharply hit grounder in the first-second base hole in a second game against Newark Academy.
“There were some oohs and ahhs on the second one,” Cordero said.
After questioning school administrators about the legality of her playing a boys sport, there were no questions about Barbas’ ability to play by season’s end. A three-sport athlete, Barbas started nearly every game as either a second baseman or outfielder. She also pitched at the junior varsity level. She helped a young, Newark East Side team finish 9-13.
“She is fearless, and to me, a true trailblazer,” Cordero said. “Olivia is one of the good stories in our school. She represents East Side well. She is one of the finest academic students at East Side.
“She takes coaching well. She never expresses feelings of being uncomfortable around the other players. She picks things up quickly and she is a sure glove out there. There are times when a ball dropped in the outfield and my assistant coach will turn to me and say ‘Olivia would have caught that.’”
“For her to come out (for baseball) and not be afraid of people judging her because she is a woman makes her something special,” said Sebastian Carreira, a senior catcher and team co-captain. “She’s always been herself. She’s never changed and that’s what I love most about her.”
Barbas spent her freshman and sophomore years at Technology High in Newark, playing on the varsity softball team for two seasons.
But seeking more athletic opportunities, she transferred to East Side. She played volleyball in the fall and girls ice hockey in the winter, scoring 14 goals in 10 games.
“Olivia approaches youth and high school sports the way they should be approached,” said East Side hockey coach Keith Veltre. “She has fun first and everything else is secondary.
“She lights up any room she walks into,” Veltre said. “She is a terrific teammate. With everything kids have to deal with today, she comes in each day with a smile. She is never moody and is always uplifting when it comes to her teammates. She is a heck of an athlete and a hockey player. I wouldn’t put anything past this kid.”
Barbas said her best chance of playing a sport at the collegiate level will likely come in ice hockey.
“There are places she can play,” Veltre said.
However, when it came to this spring, she wanted something different.
“I always enjoyed baseball and thought I would give it a try,” Barbas said. “I expressed my interest to Coach Cordero and he was open to the idea.”
With support from her mom, Renata, (a former gymnast and figure skater), Barbas began a quest to play baseball.
“Mom discovered at an early age I was stubborn, but in a good way,” Barbas said. “She always urged me to continue to aspire. She supported my decisions because she taught me to make good choices.”
Barbas began with Cordero.
“My only concern was I didn’t know if there were legalities involved,” Cordero said.
Barbas moved on to athletic director Justin Petino, who was also open to the idea. But again, needed to check on the rules.
“He (Petino) was unsure about the rules when it came to a girl playing a boys sport when there was a sport similar to it offered for girls,” Barbas said.
That’s when she reached out to Veltre, who is a Supervisor of Physical Education and Athletics in the Newark school system.
“She asked to speak to me after practice one day,” Veltre recalled. “I coached Olivia’s sister, Laura Lima, in hockey, I know her mom and Olivia has played in our hockey program since the second grade. I asked her if she was sure she wanted to try baseball after so many years of softball. She said she was.”
Her reasons for wanting to play baseball were not to ripple the pond or to be a trend setter.
“As much as a I knew I could be a starter playing softball, baseball was intriguing to me,” she said. “I wanted to try something harder. I wanted to get the experience of needing to work harder to improve myself rather than be a star player in softball.”
“I was 99 percent sure she could try out for baseball, but it wasn’t until Justin (Perino) called the NJSIAA that we knew for sure,” Veltre said.
After tryouts, she was assigned to the junior varsity, but was summoned to the varsity after one game.
“When I tried out, I wanted to make the team based on skill and not gender,” Barbas said. “I was nervous because it was my first time playing organized baseball. But it was a nervous excitement.”
“The first time I saw her in March you could see she caught and threw the ball without fear,” Cordero said.
“She fit in right from the jump,” said East Side senior and co-captain Jeffery Almonte. “As soon as I saw her play I said ‘oh, yeah, she’s good.’”
Interestingly, Almonte played second base and often shared playing time with Barbas.
“Sometimes Liv would start ahead of me, but I always encouraged her and wanted her to be better than me,” said Almonte. “She gives the team energy. She is the loudest in the dugout and the first to encourage you after an error.
“If Liv played softball, I think she could play Division I,” Almonte said. “She is a better fielder than 95 percent of the players on the team. She’s made one or two errors all season. We feel confident when she is playing.”
Of course there were adjustments that came with playing baseball.
Cordero pointed out gripping the ball was different. A softball is gripped with a full palm, a baseball with three fingers. There was also different foot work at second base and of course, terminology.
“One game I told the kids there was a new wing (new pitcher) coming in and she didn’t know what that meant,” Cordero said. “She has increased her baseball IQ.
“She was always asking for, and willing to take, advice from the guys,” Carriera said.
The biggest adjustment, however, came in the batter’s box. She had just seven at-bats with one hit, an RBI and two runs scored. The swing adjustments necessary to make consistent contact against a pitcher throwing overhand, as opposed to underhand, will take time.
“We wanted to get her at-bats against the right pitcher so she wouldn’t be overwhelmed,” Cordero said. “When given opportunities, she’s done well.”
“I actually got more opportunities to hit than I thought I would,” Barbas said. “When it comes to a softball swing you swing down and then up. That doesn’t work trying to hit a baseball. That was, and still is, the biggest adjustment I have to make.”
Both Cordero and Veltre said Barbas has a great work ethic, putting in the time and effort to improve in every sport she plays. That get-better attitude goes along with natural athleticism.
In May, during East Side’s annual Powder-Puff flag football game, Barbas played quarterback for the junior class and threw four touchdowns.
“She threw the ball 60 yards like it was nothing,” Almonte said. “Everybody was like, ‘what the heck?’ The juniors won by like four touchdowns.
“If we (East Side) had a girls flag team, Olivia would be the best quarterback in the state,” Almonte added. “If she was able to take the hits, I think she would be a good quarterback (on the boys football team).
Barbas, however, said she will stick with the one boys sport she already plays.
“I think for the guys it was a shock having a tradition and then a change like having a girl on your baseball team,” Barbas said. “But all the players were welcoming. By the end of the season, I was able to talk to all of them.
“I learned a lot and I think my baseball experience will help me in other sports,” she added.”
And, of course, she is doing it in Newark. The city historically fostered the advancement of Black players. Jackie Robinson, Monte Irvin, Roy Campanella, Bob Gibson, Sachel Paige and Don Newcombe — just to name a few — all played games in Newark. The Newark Eagles played in the Negro Leagues from 1936-1951.
“My advice to Olivia is to just keep doing what she’s doing,” Carreira said. “She is so positive and brings so much energy to the the team. I would tell her don’t ever change.”
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Joe Zedalis covers high school sports for NJ.com. He can be reached at jzedalis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Josephzedalis
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