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

Last year, RHP Brayden Olson (Saint Croix Falls, 2023; Purdue commit) was a huge reason for Saint Croix Falls’ run all the way to the state tournament championship game and this year, he seems well on his way to repeating and maybe even exceeding what he did last year. Last week, Olson came up huge for the Saints and helped them add three more wins as they currently are 15-0 this season. 

In the Saints first game of the week, Olson toed the rubber in their matchup with Chetek-Weyerhaeuser and he was lights out to say the least. Across his five innings of work, Olson struck out 15 of the 18 batters he faced and he failed to allow a base runner throughout, to give himself the perfect game. 

Olson, who's more known for his excellence from the mound, is also an impactful member of the St. Croix Falls' lineup, and has been since he was a freshman. In the same outing he authored a perfect game, Olson smacked two home runs and finished the day with seven RBIs total, but he did not stop there. In a doubleheader on Saturday, Olson combined to go 3-for-7, which included a double, and yet another home run.

It really isn’t surprising to see just how good Olson is doing as he has long been regarded as one of the state’s top pitching prospects. This year, Olson traveled to Iowa to showcase his talents at the PBR Midwest ProCase, and there he seemed to have made even more gains to his game. During his ‘pen he ran his fastball all the way up to 94 mph, and he continued to show feel for a big 11/5 breaking ball and a changeup with fade/depth.