Sydney Romero

Personal: Romero has dual citizenship in Mexico and the United States. She won two NCAA championships as a graduate assistant at Oklahoma while earning her master's degree in adult and higher education with a focus on intercollegiate athletics administration. Romero was also a member of the 2022 NFCA Division I National Coaching Staff of the Year with the Sooners. She became an assistant softball coach at the University of Oregon on June 25, 2023, after spending the 2023 season at Duke. During her time at Duke, Romero led the Blue Devils to a 48-12 record and a berth in the NCAA Super Regionals. Romero comes from a family involved in sports. Her sister, Sierra, is also a professional softball player who graduated from Michigan. Her younger brother, Michael, was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the first round of the 2022 Major League Baseball Draft. Her younger sister, Sophia, signed a National Letter of Intent to play college softball at Boise State in November 2022. Romero has a goldendoodle named Saige and lists Oklahoma head softball coach Patty Gasso as someone who has made a difference in her life. In her free time, Romero enjoys photography, finding coffee shops, walking, and visiting cool spots near water. One of her favorite memories from Athletes Unlimited is playing with her sister, Sierra, in San Diego during the inaugural AUX Softball season last summer. Romero wears the number 2 in honor of former New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter.

2023 Championship Season: Romero finished the season in sixth place on the final leaderboard with 1,600 points. She tied for 10th in the league with Bubba Nickles after collecting 1,130 win points. Additionally, she was tied with Morgan Zerkle for ninth in the circuit after accruing 310 stat points. Romero was tied for sixth in the league with 160 MVP points and was named Game MVP four times. She was a starter in all 15 games, where she compiled a .225 batting average. Romero ranked second in the league in being hit by a pitch seven times and eighth in the league with a .380 on-base percentage. She ranked fifth in the circuit with a .525 slugging percentage and was one of six players in the league to hit a triple. Romero hit three home runs and drove in 11 runs, ranking second in the league. She belted a go-ahead three-run home run against Team Faraimo on August 12, leading Team Romero to a 5-3 victory, earning 200 leaderboard points and MVP 1 status. Romero closed Week Two with a season-high 224 leaderboard points against Team Garcia on August 6 after slugging a grand slam to left field to claim MVP 2 notice. She secured MVP 2 honors on July 31 against Team Mulipola. Finally, Romero drove in two runs and collected two hits, including a triple, in an MVP 3 performance against Team Flippen in the season finale on August 27. She collected 100 or more leaderboard points in nine games, including two outings of 200 or more points.

2022 Championship Season: Romero started all 15 games and accumulated 1,252 leaderboard points. She had a batting average of .412, with a league-high 21 hits and nine runs batted in. Romero also set a record for Athletes Unlimited with eight doubles in a single season. She had seven games where she scored 100 or more leaderboard points, with a season-high of 170 points against Team Jaquish on August 20. Sydney had a hit in 14 of the 15 games she played, including five multi-hit performances. She closed the season strong with seven hits in her final three games, including a 3-for-4 performance against Team McCleney. In the season finale, Romero collected two hits, including a double, and three runs batted in against Team Chidester.

2022 AUX Season: Romero accumulated 1,260 points and finished sixth on the leaderboard. She started all 12 games and had a .326 batting average with 14 hits. Romero hit two home runs and had nine runs batted in. She also scored seven runs and was hit by a pitch three times, which tied her for second place in the circuit. Romero had four multi-hit games and ended the season with a seven-game hitting streak. She hit a home run against Team Eberle on June 15 and another against Team Fischer in the season finale on June 25. 

2021 Championship Season: Romero registered 932 leaderboard points during her rookie season. She had a .220 batting average with nine hits in 15 games, starting 12 times. Romero tied for the league lead in being hit by a pitch three times and was one of eight players to record a triple. She also had a sacrifice fly, one of 13 players to do so. 

International Experience: Romero also has international experience as a member of Team Mexico in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She had a .222 batting average with four hits, including a double and a home run. Sydney also drew three walks. 

Other Professional Experience: In terms of other professional experience, Romero was the No. 3 overall selection in the 2019 NPF Draft by the USSSA Pride. She earned All-NPF honors and led the USSSA Pride to a league championship. 

At Oklahoma: Romero finished as the school's all-time leader in at-bats (853), doubles (58) and sacrifice flies (13). She ranks second in school history in career hits (320), career extra-base hits (121) and total bases (558). Romero is also among the Sooners' career leaders in games played (258), runs batted in (215), batting average (.375), runs scored (229) and home runs (54). In the 2016 season, she only struck out four times in 211 at-bats. Romero is a two-time First-Team NFCA All-America selection and has earned NFCA All-Region and All-Big 12 Conference honors four times. She was named the 2019 Big 12 Conference Player of the Year and has been a two-time member of the Women's College World Series All-Tournament Team.