Matt Levins - The Hawk Eye
Elise Oleson and Lauren Summers have been playing softball together for as long as either can remember.
The step-cousins will get to play one final season on the diamond together next spring for Cornell College.
The step-cousins were reunited this spring with the Rams, Oleson at first base, Summers in the outfield and in the pitching circle.
The duo spent five years together playing for West Burlington-Notre Dame and their grandfather, David Oleson.
While Elise Oleson went on to play for Cornell College, Summers spent two seasons at Southeastern Community College.
Reunited once again at Cornell, an NCAA Division III school in Mount Vernon, the step-cousins and close friends have thrived.
They helped the Rams to a 24-18 record, including 10-6 in the Midwest Conference.
At the end of the day, there is no place either would rather be.
“It’s really awesome being back together again. We even have some of the same classes together,” Oleson said. “It’s so cool that we will get to end our softball careers together next year.”
“Elise helped recruit me here,” Summers said. “She told me she really loves it up here and that I should come up and take a look. It’s been great being on the same team with her again.”
Oleson and Summers are back in their comfort zones. They grew up playing softball together, Oleson at first base, Summers in the circle.
“It’s nice when I’m pitching because I know she’s going to always be there for me to get the out at first,” Summers said. “I know when the ball is hit to her she is going to make the stop. She’s always got me back, just like in high school.”
“It was just like old times,” said Oleson, who is engaged to be married next year. “Having her here really helps relax me. It’s good to have someone like that on the team.”
Both Summers and Oleson garnered all-conference accolades.
Summers made 25 appearances in the circle, 21 in relief. She went 7-5 with a 4.07 earned-run average in 75 2/3 innings. She hit .307 with a .342 on-base percentage and a .447 slugging percentage. She had nine doubles, two triples and one home run, scored 18 runs and drove in 18 runs.
Oleson earned all-conference honors for the third straight season. She had four home runs and hit .315 with 15 doubles and 30 RBIs, second-most in the conference.
Oleson slugged three home runs against Ripon College to end the regular season.
“I wasn’t expecting that,” Oleson said. “I was feeling pretty good that day and I had a lot of confidence in myself. I went through a pretty bad slump for a while, but that really pulled me out of it. I had been dealing with an injury and I think that was part of the problem. But people around me were always keeping me up.”
Summers said she had to adjust to pitching at the college level, something she had a chance to do at SCC.
“You have to use a lot of spin and hit your spots,” Summers said. “We worked a lot on hitting spots. I tried to be a lot more consistent with my pitching. We did a lot of live-ball drills and that really helped. If you miss over the plate, they are going to hit a home run, so we are really big on hitting our spots. I also worked on my change-up to throw hitters off.”
Summers struck out 39 and walked 30 this season.
With one more season together on the diamond, the step-cousins are looking to go out on a high note next season.
“I’m happy we get to play one more season together,” Oleson said. “I think we are going to have a really good team next year. I think we can make it pretty far.”
“It’s going to be great playing one more season together,” said Summers, who will be student-teaching at Cedar Rapids Prairie in a fourth-grade classroom. “I’m looking forward to next year and going out together in softball.”