Sydney Joy Romero (born March 8, 1997) is a Mexican American professional

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

player and current assistant coach for

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. She previously played

college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. College softball is normally played by women at the Intercollegiate level, whereas college baseball is nor ...

for the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land Run ...

, where she set numerous program records and led the Sooners to four consecutive

Women's College World Series The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States. Eight teams participate in the WCWS, which begins with a double-elimination tournament. In other wo ...

appearances from 2016 to 2019, and won the national championship as a Freshman in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

and Sophomore in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

. She played professionally for the

USSSA Pride The USSSA Pride are a professional softball team based in Viera, Florida and a member of the WPF - Women's Professional Fastpitch League, U.S. Founded in 2009. They previously played in National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) from 2009 to 2019. They play th ...

National Pro Fastpitch National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), formerly the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL), was a professional women's softball league in the United States. The teams battled for the Cowles Cup. The WPSL was founded in 1997 and folded in 2001; the NPF revive ...

. She represented

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

Early life

Romero attended

Vista Murrieta High School Vista Murrieta High School (VMHS) is a comprehensive, four-year high school located in Murrieta, California, United States. It is operated by the Murrieta Valley Unified School District. It opened in August 2003, relieving the overcrowding at Murr ...

, where she was a three-time First-Team All-Southwestern League honoree, and was named a 2014 Underclass All-American.

College career

During her Freshman year in 2016, Romero played in 64 games, where she struck out just four times in 211 at-bats on the season, giving her the third-best strikeout ratio in program history at 52.75 at-bats per strikeout. She was named to the All-Big 12 Freshman Team, and named a NFCA Freshman of the Year finalist. During the

2016 Women's College World Series The 2016 NCAA Division I softball tournament was held from May 20 through June 8, 2016 as the final part of the 2016 NCAA Division I softball season. The 64 NCAA Division I college softball teams were to be selected out of an eligible 293 teams o ...

, Sydney and the Sooners faced her sister Sierra and the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisio ...

during the second round. Sydney went 2-for-3, including a solo home run, with two runs scored, a walk and a stolen base in a 7–5 victory for the Sooners. During the finals of the World Series against

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

, Romero hit a three-run home run in game 1 of the best-of-three championship series, to help the Sooners win the game, and lead the team to the championship. During her Senior year in 2019, Romero finished the regular season leading the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(.431),

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s (17), RBIs (51) and

total bases In baseball statistics, total bases is the number of bases a player gains with hits. It is a weighted sum with values of 1 for a single, 2 for a double, 3 for a triple and 4 for a home run. For example, three singles is three total bases, while ...

(144), while ranking second in

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

(.862),

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls ...

(55) and

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

(72). She also led the nation with 176 total bases, and ranked second nationally with 90 hits. Her 176 total bases and 42 extra-base hits ranked second all-time in single-season Oklahoma program history. On May 10, 2019, Romero recorded her 57th career

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

to set a Sooners program record, surpassing the previous record of 56 set by Lisa Carey in 2001. Following an outstanding season, she was named the Big 12 Player of the Year, and was a top three finalist for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award. She was also named a unanimous All-Big 12 First Team selection, and a First-Team All-American. Romero finished her Sooner career as the leader in at-bats (853) and doubles (58) and tied for first with 13 sacrifice flies; second in hits (320), extra-base hits (121) and total bases (558); third in games played (258); fourth in RBIs (215); fifth in batting average (.375), runs scored (229) and home runs (54); sixth in assists (367) and seventh in slugging percentage (.654).

Professional career

On April 16, 2019, Romero was drafted third overall by the

in the 2019 NPF Draft. On June 11, 2019, she was signed to a two-year contract by the USSSA Pride. She was named the Player of the Week for the week ending July 28, 2019. During the week she went 7-for-13, with eight runs, one double, one home run, five RBI, two walks, and three stolen bases. She was named the Rookie of the Week for the week ending August 11, 2019. During the week she went 11-for-22, with four runs, two doubles, one home run, five RBI, two walks and a stolen base.

Coaching career

On September 18, 2019, Romero was named a student assistant for the

Oklahoma Sooners softball The Oklahoma Sooners softball team represents the University of Oklahoma in NCAA Division I College softball. The team competes in the Big 12 Conference, and plays its home games at OU Softball Complex in Norman, Oklahoma. The Sooners are current ...

program. On July 1, 2022, Romero was named an assistant coach for the

Duke Blue Devils softball Duke Blue Devils Softball joined the Atlantic Coast Conference as a Division I varsity program in 2017. In July 2015, former Big Ten Player of the Year Marissa Young was named as Duke University's first head softball coach. Young spent the previ ...

program. She served as the team's hitting and infield coach and helped lead Duke to a 48–12 record and hosted an NCAA Super Regional for the first time in program history. On June 25, 2023, Romero was named an assistant coach for the

Oregon Ducks softball The Oregon Ducks softball team represents the University of Oregon in NCAA Division I college softball in the Pac-12 Conference. The head coach is Melyssa Lombardi who is entering her third season with the Ducks. Oregon will now play home games a ...

program.

Personal life

Romero is the daughter of Michael and Melissa Romero, and has three siblings. She is the younger sister of professional softball player

Sierra Romero Sierra Joy Romero (born March 19, 1994) is a Mexican American professional softball player. She formerly was a volunteer assistant softball coach for the Oregon Ducks softball team. She played college softball for Michigan from 2013 to 2016, whe ...

. Her brother, Mikey Romero was drafted in the first round, 24th overall, by the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

in the 2022 Major League Baseball Draft.

References

External links

Oklahoma bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Romero, Sydney 1997 births Living people American sportspeople of Mexican descent Duke Blue Devils softball coaches Oklahoma Sooners softball coaches Oklahoma Sooners softball players Oregon Ducks softball coaches Softball players from California Sportspeople from San Diego USSSA Pride players Mexican softball players Olympic softball players for Mexico Softball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics