After missing her junior season due to injury, Alcovy’s Olivia Tomberlin is back as the Lady Tigers top arm in 2025-26.

Tomberlin, who is about to enter her senior year, is expected to be the team’s primary pitcher next season along with some time at first base and even shortstop.

After being a part of a veteran-led team the past two years, Tomberlin shared what is different about this year’s group.

“It’s definitely a newer team. We have a ton of new potential,” Tomberlin said. “We have a lot of stuff we need to work on this summer and I look forward to many of the players developing and coming into their own as we get ready for the season.”

In her last full season in 2023-24, Tomberlin ended the year as an Honorable Mention on the All-Cov News Softball Team.

A shoulder injury derailed Tomberlin’s junior campaign before it even began, but the upcoming senior seems to be a good spot physically ahead of the new year.

“Obviously it’s still torn, [as I] needed to take a year off to do physical therapy, this year it will be better. I feel like I am back to 85 percent,” Tolmerlin said. 

As she missed the entity of last season, Tomberlin missed a chance to compete in the Lady TIgers new region — Region 8-AAAAA.

The new competition in region play is one of the things Tomberlin cannot wait to experience the most.

“The new region we have [is exciting]. The first two years that I played the region was very different,” Tomberlin said. “This year, the division is a lot more competitive so I am excited to get out there and face better pitching and develop as a player every single game.”

Now as one of the team’s veterans and leaders, Tomberlin is ready to see the team continue to round into form as they prepare for the opening week of the season in August and even further.

“The whole team is a lot younger, we only have about four upperclassmen,” Tomberlin said. “It is definitely a new team and we just need to keep developing throughout the next four years.”