A trio of Oregon Ducks on the Oklahoma City Spark roster has taken on some new dynamics this season.
Rookies Amari Harper and Lyndsey Grein join their college assistant coach and longtime pro, Sydney Romero, as teammates.
Harper transferred to Oregon this past season, while Grein was a Duck her final two years of college eligibility. Romero finished her fourth season as an assistant coach in Eugene, and alongside coaching, she has played professional softball for seven years.
That continued experience as a player created a unique type of coaching for Harper, learning from someone who participates in the game on the field and instructionally. It challenged Harper to process the game situationally in the dugout or at practice.
“Seeing her mindset as a coach has been huge,” Harper explained. “It helps you flip to that mindset of, ‘Okay, if I’m in this situation, what would I do,’ even if you’re not playing. And then when you’re put in that situation, it just becomes so much easier.”
Harper was Oregon’s second-leading hitter this past season and is a utility player who can play the outfield and right side of the infield. She had one of the best offensive seasons of her career with the Ducks, smashing her previous career high in homers (8) with 15. She also had a career-best 13-game hitting streak.
The piece of advice from Romero that really resonated?
“Don’t let anybody beat you twice,” she said. “You can have a bad first at-bat, but take the bad from that, learn from it, try to adjust as quickly as possible. If you popped up, ground out the next time. Overadjust, overwork in that sense.”
Romero made a career in college of being a tough out and constantly evolving. Her batting average improved each year at Oklahoma, where she played from 2016 to 2019, winning two national titles. She doubled her home runs from her freshman year (10 HRs) to her senior year (20 HRs) and never struck out more than 10 times in an entire season.
On the Oregon staff, she’s been incredibly influential on the development of their defense. And despite Grein being on the pitching staff (Romero is an infielder), even her influence was felt in the circle.
“She can be engaged in what we do, because she’s on the clock all year round, being a coach and then also training to be a player,” Grein said. “She got to step in and take reps with us… show us the ropes of what she wanted us to accomplish and practice so she could really be hands-on, which was awesome.”
Romero was adamant that Oregon would be sound defensively, and that included the pitchers. Romero had the Ducks staff take reps at second base and shortstop, where Romero has pro experience, and would demonstrate working through the ball or taking an extra step.
“And then we kind of almost like, do our best to mimic her. We’d never get that close,” Grein laughed.
She appreciated Romero standing in the box, seeing her pitches as a hitter herself to give feedback. Grein loved having a coach that involved.
Some of Romero’s biggest impact came when the Ducks’ season ended. Grein was coming off an eye injury that sidelined her for the team’s regional competition.
“I needed to get as much practice as possible. I was like, ‘Hey, would I be able to throw live to you? Like, could we collaborate?’ And she was all in.”
The pair worked to help Grein adapt to the pro strike zone, which is different from college. It’s bigger, with a full softball given vertically as strikes. They focused on where Grein would be able to get strike calls and also where to avoid leaving the ball against the best hitters in the world.
Romero laughed that by the end of their training, she told Grein, “Well, you’re beating me at this point, I’m done.”
“She’s had her fair share of bombs off me,” Grein countered. “It’s just fun to compete with her. She has such a strong mentality. And, like I said, she’s just the best of the best.”
Romero said the experience of now playing alongside two athletes whose development she’s poured into has been special. And it would be pretty seamless if they’d stop accidentally calling her “Coach Ro.”
“Just Sydney” is not going to work for either of them. They’ve been workshopping some new titles.
“I’ve been calling her Joy because it’s her middle name, so I’m like, that feels better-ish,” Grein said.
Harper added, “I’ll call her Ro. Or like SJ for Sydney Joy. I’m just… I’m really trying.”
Savanna Collins is the Senior Reporter for the AUSL. You can follow her on Instagram @savvyco.
