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PBR Wisconsin Player of the Week: 3B/RHP Brayden Olson

April 27, 2022
By: Diego Solares
Associate Scout, Staff Writer

One of the state’s biggest winners from this past winter circuit, 3B/RHP Brayden Olson (Saint Croix Falls, 2023) has parlayed his success early in the year into a hot start to the WIAA season, earning our week four ‘Player of the Week’ honors.

Olson, who’s gained some momentum as a legitimate two-way prospect, started his impressive week out with a dominant showing on the mound. He took the rubber against Northwestern on Tuesday, punching 11 batters out across four scoreless innings and limiting the Tigers to just three total hits. He chipped in offensively as well, launching a two-run blast to center field in the bottom half of the first inning and picking up another hit later, finishing the day with three RBIs.

Against Barron on Thursday, Olson went 2-for-3 at the plate with an RBI and he scored a run, too. He then toed the rubber again in the first game of Saturday’s double-header and dominated, striking out nine across five innings of two-hit ball. Olson did allow a run, though it was unearned, and he went 3-for-3 at the plate, scoring a run and stealing a bag, too.

In total, the Saints’ star junior struck out 20 batters in nine scoreless innings of work, winning both games and holding his opponents to four hits. He added seven hits at the plate, including a home run and five RBIs, while scoring seven runs and stealing a bag. Olson helped lead Saint Croix Falls to four wins last week, as the Saints now sit 5-0 on the season.

After representing Team Wisconsin at the Future Games last summer, Olson has been an on-the-rise name in the Badger State’s junior class. He came away as the top overall prospect at the Fox Cities Preseason ID in February and recently rose up our state’s updated 2023 rankings, now slotted at No. 15 overall. A quick nugget on him from our scouts, found below:

POTW: WEEK 4

Brayden Olson 3B / RHP / Saint Croix Falls, WI / 2023

Wisconsin Ranking (2023 overall): No. 15

“Olson is a relaxed, athletic mover with lots of leverage throughout the delivery… appears taller than he’s listed (6-foot-1), and you can see his efforts this offseason to improve his measurements across the diamond. Olson possesses easy arm speed, and plenty of upside left to grow into. His stuff on the mound has the makings of a very tough starter’s profile, with natural throwing instincts that appears to be sustainable long-term, utilizing a long loop momentum capture while delivering from a 5-foot-9 average release height. He’s turned himself into a high motor worker with a large deck of pitch design options for the savvy pitching coach at the next level. As his velo continues to steadily rise here in mid-February, it’s easy to expect this sleeper to make some noise in 2022 and beyond, even as a position player. In the box, he stands tall and strides from open to square. Relaxed throughout his moves, and quality feel for the barrel entering the zone. Olson showed some pull-side pop that was representative of his top notch spring numbers in ‘21, reaching a max exit speed of 94.9 mph and the farthest average batted distance (287 feet), with a 340-foot best. He’s also a quality defender on the dirt with the same powerful arm that helps shape a profile at the hot corner, perhaps.”

For his efforts, Olson has been named the PBR Wisconsin Player of the Week, for the first two weeks of WIAA action, ranging from Monday, April 18 to Sunday, April 24. We're thankful for the POTW submissions we received from the coaches across the state. The players who garnered POTW consideration will earn a place within Friday's Diamond Notes story, so be on the lookout for that by the end of this week.

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