Agoura’s Mouth That Roars

In so many ways, Amanda Oleson of Agoura High is everything a coach could want in a softball player.

A slap hitter who packs potential power, Oleson possesses outstanding speed, excellent defensive range and a bulldog-like desire to win.

That’s why Washington Coach Teresa Wilson recruited her to play the outfield for the Huskies, the top-ranked college team in the nation for most of the 2000 season.

But if there is one player in the region whose talent comes with an asterisk, it’s Oleson.

The 5-foot-10 senior shortstop, who will play for the West in the San Fernando Valley All-Star game at 4 p.m. Monday at the Glendale Sports Complex, is notorious for a razor-sharp tongue and a propensity to use it often.

Umpires, coaches, teammates and opponents have gotten an earful from the outspoken, opinionated Oleson, who sums up her reputation thusly:

“I have an attitude.”

Last year, Oleson said she engaged in daily verbal sparring with former Agoura coach Jill Veres and Veres’ father, Ron, a former assistant.

Oleson was finally kicked off the team for holding up a picture of teammate and best friend Alicia White during the taking of the team picture. White had been dismissed from the team.

“I was actually waiting for the day when she would find something to kick me off for,” said Oleson, one of three Agoura players dismissed by Veres during her one-year tenure.

Neither Jill nor Ron Veres could be reached for comment.

Oleson’s reputation as a bad apple was among the first things Wilson heard when she began recruiting Oleson last summer. It could easily have been the deal breaker.

“It was a very long topic of conversation before we signed her,” Wilson said. “This program has a policy and a standard and a way of doing things where there is very little room for people to go their own way.”

Wilson said she has no intention of snuffing out Oleson’s “spiritedness.”

“Energy and enthusiasm is something that when channeled in the right direction has amazing results,” she said.

Wilson isn’t the first coach to embrace Oleson’s brassy demeanor.

Steve Harrington, who has coached Oleson for the last two seasons with the 16- and 18-and-under Stealth, had heard all about Oleson before asking her to join his club team.

“I had been told before she came to join me that she had a sharp tongue,” said Harrington, who is also the coach at Chaminade High. “[But] I have not had a problem with her at all.”

Only when Oleson gets upset with her play and directs a “verbal slur” at herself does Harrington step in. On those occasions, Oleson usually finds herself running extra laps.

But Harrington, despite what he had heard, said Oleson does not have a bad attitude. Otherwise, she certainly wouldn’t be one of the Stealth’s captains.

“Had I listened to those rumors, I would have passed on one of the greatest players to come out of this area,” Harrington said.

Although Oleson has great potential, her four-year varsity career was somewhat of a disappointment.

She never hit higher than .300 until this season and Agoura never qualified for the playoffs.

“For some reason, when I hit high school season, I go downhill,” Oleson said. “I don’t know why.”

“As soon as the summer comes and I hit the other field, I hardly ever get out.”

Last summer, Oleson was one of the Stealth’s leading hitters, batting .445 with about a .700 on-base percentage, Harrington said.

Because Jill and Ron Veres were not asked to return as Agoura’s coaches, Oleson rejoined the Chargers for her senior season.

First-year Coach Brandi Brennan and assistant Melissa Thatcher were a breath of fresh air for Oleson, who enjoyed her finest high school season.

Brennan had also heard “terrible” things about Oleson before meeting her, but said she was never “pushed to the limit where I had to discipline her.”

However, early in the season, Brennan said she pulled Oleson aside after her shortstop directed profanity at an umpire.

“From what I’ve heard, she has grown so much,” Brennan said. “I don’t know if we’ve done anything different than past coaches, but I think she’s matured a little bit. . . . But she still has a way to go.”

Thatcher, who graduated from Agoura in 1991 and played for Fresno State, said Oleson is her own worst enemy.

“She beats herself up,” Thatcher said. “She’s hard on herself and gets very frustrated.”

But Oleson’s high expectations have rubbed off on her teammates.

“Her work ethic and her talent alone brings the level of play up,” Brennan said. “You better believe everybody is diving around Amanda, because they don’t want to let their teammate down.”

Brennan said Oleson worked hard at practice, was a team player and showed “a lot of self-control.”

But her mouth is never idle.

“She’s still Amanda Oleson, she still has her ways,” Brennan said. “And I don’t agree with all of them.”