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Eight months ago, at age of 22, Paige Sinicki was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer.
What followed was eight rounds of chemotherapy, surgery and radiation. Through it all, the former University of Oregon softball star had the goal of returning to the field. She had been picked up by the Portland Cascade of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League and attended team meetings via Zoom while going through her treatment and recovery.
Sinicki was cleared to practice this month. And on July 7, her team needed her.
After starting second baseman Sis Bates was hit in the forearm with a fastball, the Cascade turned to Sinicki as a substitute in the fifth inning.
To cheers from the crowd at Hillsboro Ballpark, Sinicki jogged onto the field, was greeted by her teammates and took her position.
"This is the best thing you're going to see on television today," broadcaster Geoff Arnold said. "I think it's one of the best things you're going to see in sports all year."
The boxscore will show a 4-2 win for the Cascade over the Carolina Blaze, but it was a victory that meant so much more to the 5-foot-3 native of Henderson, Nevada.
Sinicki had one at-bat in the game and dueled with No. 1 overall pick Karlyn Pickens for eight pitches before grounding out. Sinicki also played the next day against the Blaze, starting and notching four put-outs and three assists.
To protect her incisions from surgery, Sinicki is wearing a chest guard under her jersey.
"Cancer has not and will not take away from the things I love," Sinicki wrote in a post on X last month.
A standout player in college at Oregon, Sinicki was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and made the all-conference defensive team in each of her four collegiate seasons. She was the first player in Oregon’s program history to earn a NFCA Gold Glove.
Sinicki had 17 home runs, 102 RBI and 65 stolen bases in her time as an Oregon Duck in addition to a .963 career fielding percentage. She appeared in 13 games last season with the Cascade and also spent the offseason as a graduate assistant coach at the University of Utah.
“I honestly feel like I have just such a stronger mindset and I know what it takes to be a fighter," Sinicki told KPTV earlier this week.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Months after breast cancer diagnosis, softball star Paige Sinicki returns to AUSL
Continue reading...
What followed was eight rounds of chemotherapy, surgery and radiation. Through it all, the former University of Oregon softball star had the goal of returning to the field. She had been picked up by the Portland Cascade of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League and attended team meetings via Zoom while going through her treatment and recovery.
Sinicki was cleared to practice this month. And on July 7, her team needed her.
After starting second baseman Sis Bates was hit in the forearm with a fastball, the Cascade turned to Sinicki as a substitute in the fifth inning.
To cheers from the crowd at Hillsboro Ballpark, Sinicki jogged onto the field, was greeted by her teammates and took her position.
"This is the best thing you're going to see on television today," broadcaster Geoff Arnold said. "I think it's one of the best things you're going to see in sports all year."
The boxscore will show a 4-2 win for the Cascade over the Carolina Blaze, but it was a victory that meant so much more to the 5-foot-3 native of Henderson, Nevada.
Sinicki had one at-bat in the game and dueled with No. 1 overall pick Karlyn Pickens for eight pitches before grounding out. Sinicki also played the next day against the Blaze, starting and notching four put-outs and three assists.
To protect her incisions from surgery, Sinicki is wearing a chest guard under her jersey.
"Cancer has not and will not take away from the things I love," Sinicki wrote in a post on X last month.
A standout player in college at Oregon, Sinicki was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and made the all-conference defensive team in each of her four collegiate seasons. She was the first player in Oregon’s program history to earn a NFCA Gold Glove.
Sinicki had 17 home runs, 102 RBI and 65 stolen bases in her time as an Oregon Duck in addition to a .963 career fielding percentage. She appeared in 13 games last season with the Cascade and also spent the offseason as a graduate assistant coach at the University of Utah.
“I honestly feel like I have just such a stronger mindset and I know what it takes to be a fighter," Sinicki told KPTV earlier this week.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Months after breast cancer diagnosis, softball star Paige Sinicki returns to AUSL
Continue reading...
