Olivia Pichardo’s interest in baseball first came about because of her dad.
Max Pichardo, hailing from the Dominican Republic, loved the game and wanted his daughter to love it, too. He moved to the Bronx when he was 12 years old and set up roots in Queens, where Olivia played only baseball, not softball, from the age of 5.
“Yeah, it was kind of instilled in me,” Pichardo said. “On my own, I always wanted to just keep playing baseball.”
Pichardo played Little League in Forest Hills, a 10-minute drive from Citi Field. She’s a Mets fan — her favorite player is two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom. She plays other positions, like outfield, but she’s mostly played his position, pitcher, since the very beginning of her career. Her favorite memory is very deGrom-like, too.
“Fourteen strikeouts at 14,” Pichardo recalled. “That stands out to me.”
