ST. JOSEPH, Minn. -- How big a deal is softball in the Tautges family?
 
Big enough that when Olivia Tautges was a high school freshman, her father Robert built a pole barn to house a batting cage next door to the family's home on South Long Lake between Pierz and Brainerd.

 

"That way whenever any of us wanted to go practice, we could hop in there and take a few swings," recalled Olivia, a Brainerd High School graduate who has gone on to become an All-American at the College of Saint Benedict, where she is now in her senior season. 
 
"And it wasn't just us. He invited anyone who wanted to come over and use it. He played fast pitch softball when I was little and he really enjoys the sport," she said.
 
His love for the game carried over to his five children. Olivia's twin sister Emma was an all-region pick at Central Lakes College, a two-year school in Brainerd, before transferring to Division II Upper Iowa prior to the start of last season.
 
Then there are the triplets: Mya, a pitcher in her first season at Division I St. Thomas, Joze, a pitcher/infielder in her first season at Central Lakes, and brother Eli, who is also at Central Lakes where he just completed his first season of collegiate basketball.
 
"Sports have always been a big part of our lives," Olivia said. "We'd have family basketball tournaments growing up and it got pretty competitive. My dad played a ton of sports with us when we were little and both he and my mom (Peggy) have always been huge supporters of everything we've ever done."
 
Olivia has given them plenty to celebrate over the years. She was a multi-sport star at Brainerd, where she earned all-conference honors a total of eight times and all-section distinction on four occasions. She was a Miss Softball candidate during her senior season in 2022 when she led the Warriors to a runner-up finish at the Class 4A state tournament.
 
That set the stage for her collegiate career.
 
"There were a lot of different factors at work that pulled me (to CSB)," she recalled. "I was the oldest in my family so I didn't know much about the (college) recruiting process. But (Bennies head coach Rachael) Click came to my games and seemed really interested in pushing me to get better both in my sport and as a person. I took a tour and loved the atmosphere here. I was looking for a smaller school and CSB was close to home so my family could see me play on a regular basis.It seemed like a place where I could make a real impact."
 
She's certainly done that. After seeing action in 15 games and starting 10 as a pitcher/outfielder during her first season in 2023, she broke out as a sophomore – moving to outfielder full time and batting .400 with a single-season program record 15 home runs.
 
Along the way, she put together a 22-game hitting streak, was named MIAC player of the year and became just the fourth Bennie to earn All-American honors.
 
That hot streak continued last season when she moved to shortstop and batted .380 while earning all-region honors for the second year in a row.
 
"Olivia is so physically strong and the exit velocity she can get on some of her hits is like nothing I have seen in 17 years of coaching – including two years in Division I," Click said. "She also puts in the time. Growing up, she was hitting and pitching with her sisters and dad. She learned early that if you want to be better than others you have to work harder than others too. It's rare that the most talented players aren't also the hardest workers. Players like that reach their level for a reason, and Olivia is no exception."
 
Indeed, Tautges said her collegiate success didn't come overnight.
 
"I was a decent hitter in high school, but I had no idea what to expect coming into college," Tautges said. "The adjustment is a lot harder than most people think. I remember getting off to a pretty rough start. Even early on in my sophomore season, I wasn't hitting very well at all.
 
"It was a game against Wartburg that year when things started to change. I was batting under .100 at that point, but I hit a home run. From there, everything started rolling."
 
That roll continues to this day. Going into her team's nonconference doubleheader against George Fox Tuesday (March 17) in Newberg, Oregon, Tautges was batting a team-best .611 with 27 hits and four home runs. Her career home run total now stands at 23 – just seven shy of the career school record of 30 set by Lexi Alm in 2011-14.
 
"I don't want to jinx anything but breaking that record has been a goal of mine for a while now," Tautges said. "Obviously, team success comes first before any individual goal. But it would mean a lot to me to break that."
 
Tautges doesn't only excel on the softball field though. She's also part of the Fighting Saints ROTC Battalion, made up of students from the College of Saint Benedict, Saint John's University and St. Cloud State University.
 
She works in the S5 shop for the battalion, assisting with media and public relations. During the fall semester, she's also a part of the Fighting Saints' Ranger Challenge team, competing nationally against other ROTC battalions in Army tasks and endurance events.
 
"After my freshman year here, I still didn't really know what I wanted to do as far as an occupation goes," the environmental studies major said. "I knew I loved sports and I loved the team dynamic. My mom knew someone in the national guard who recommended looking at ROTC. I hadn't thought of the military before. No one in my family had served. I never thought it was applicable to me," she added. "But after exploring it more, I decided to give it a shot as a sophomore. I ended up liking it a lot. The experience is similar to being part of a team in sports, so it's been a great fit for me."
 
After graduating in May, Tautges plans to commission as a field artillery officer.
 
"You turn in a list of the top five places you'd like to be stationed," she said. "My top choice was Fort Bragg in North Carolina. So I'm hoping that's where I end up."
 
Before that, though, Tautges is focusing on her final season of collegiate softball.
 
"I feel good about how things are going so far," said Tautges, whose team is off to a 6-4 start heading into its six-game Oregon trip. "We're really starting to click as a team. We have the talent to go a long way if we can put everything together."