{{short description|Canadian baseball player}} '''Olive Bend Little''' [''Ollie''] (May 17, 1917 − February 2, 1987) was a Canadian baseball player, a pitcher in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League between the {{baseball year|1943}} and {{baseball year|1946}} seasons. Listed at 5' 3", 135 lb., Little batted and threw right-handed. She was born in Poplar Point, Manitoba, Canada.<ref name=AAGPBL>[http://www.aagpbl.org/profiles/olive-bend-little-ollie/26 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League – Olive Little]. Retrieved 2026-01-18.</ref>
Little was renowned for her strong fastball and for pitching four no-hitter games. She threw the first no-hitter in All-American Girls Professional Baseball League history, for the Rockford Peaches on June 10, 1943.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/august-15-1943-canadas-olive-little-tosses-first-no-hitter-in-aagpbl-history/|title=August 15, 1943: Canada’s Olive Little tosses first no-hit, no-run game in AAGPBL history – Society for American Baseball Research}}</ref>
As a founding member, Little entered the AAGPBL with the Rockford Peaches in 1943. She won 21 games and pitched the league's first no hitter on June 10 of that year in a nine inning game, even though she was tagged for two runs on that game. She also made the All Star team with 151 strikeouts to her credit. Little was out in 1944 to have a baby, but returned in 1945 to win 22 games. She went 14−17 in 1946, her last season.
In a three-season career, Little posted a 57−43 record with 381 strikeouts and a 2.23 ERA in 112 pitching appearances.
Little gained induction into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in 1985. She died at the age of 69.
Since 1998, the Olive Little Memorial Award is presented to The Manitoba Softball Association's Top Senior Female Player.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Sources== *''All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book'' – W. C. Madden. Publisher: McFarland & Company, 2000. Format: Paperback, 294pp. Language: English. {{ISBN|0-7864-3747-2}}. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-3747-4}} *''Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League: A Biographical Dictionary'' - W. C. Madden. Publisher: McFarland & Company, 2005. Format: Paperback, 295 pp. Language: English. {{ISBN|0-7864-3747-2}}. {{ISBN|9780786422630}}*''Biographical Dictionary of American Sports. Vol. 3: Baseball, Q-Z'' - David L. Porter. Publisher: Greenwood Pub Group, 1987. Language: English. {{ISBN|0-313-31176-5}}. {{ISBN|978-0-313-31176-5}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110706185542/http://www.softball.mb.ca/DisplayAward.asp?Award=FFS Olive Little Memorial Award]
==External links== *[https://www.aagpbl.org/teams/rockford-peaches/1943 1943 Rockford Peaches] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20071020221023/http://www.halloffame.mb.ca/honoured/1985/oLittle.htm Olive Little’s biography] at [https://web.archive.org/web/20080324233514/http://www.halloffame.mb.ca/ Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum] *[http://www.famouscanadians.net/extras/miniprofiles.php Famous Canadians]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Little, Olive}} Category:Canadian women baseball players Category:Place of death missing Category:1917 births Category:1987 deaths Category:Baseball people from Manitoba Category:Sportswomen from Manitoba Category:Canadian expatriate baseball players in the United States Category:Rockford Peaches players
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