She hustles. She hits. She makes electric plays.
The Ducks have a new star on their hands. It comes in the form of a freshman who Oregon coach Melyssa Lombardi deemed “the female Pete Rose” before the season. She’s a young player who has come onto the college softball scene with fire and determination, led under the wings of the team’s experienced leaders.
Sinicki wasted no time in proving her talent. She got the opening day start at third base and smacked a two-run single in her first collegiate at-bat.
“I feel like I was in a dream at one point, where I was in the dugout like, ‘Wow, we’re really playing Ole Miss,’” Sinicki said.
Sinicki collected six hits in her first nine collegiate at-bats, but it wasn’t just the bat that was impressive. She lived up to the “female Pete Rose” scouting report in an instant, stealing three bases in her first three games.
“She’s a hustler, and she’s a competitor,” Lombardi said. “Every single day, she shows up and gives it her all in everything we do. She never, ever lets up. And she just competes, and she makes the people around her compete.”
She also made impressive plays in the field, switching between third base and shortstop as needed. The Ducks are set at those positions with Rachel Cid and the return of Jasmine Williams, but now they’re arguably deeper on the left side of the infield.
Lombardi’s praise for Sinicki continued: “She’s excellent on defense. She’s explosive at the plate. She’s got great speed.”
After an impressive first three games, Sinicki fell back to Earth. She went 0-for-5 against UC San Diego on Feb. 12 as part of a 1-for-14 stretch.
But a massive opportunity revealed itself on a silver platter for Sinicki on Feb. 18. The Ducks had a doubleheader against Baylor and were coming off their first loss of the season earlier that day. Sinicki had yet to collect a hit in either game. She came up to the plate in the sixth inning with two on and one out: Oregon leading 3-0 — a chance to break it open.
She delivered, smacking her first career home run over the left-center field fence.
“It’s just an amazing feeling to go back to home plate with all my teammates,” Sinicki said of the homer. “It was just awesome.”
Sinicki’s passion and energy in the field stems from her love of the game. She said simply being on the field with her teammates fires her up and that she would “go through a wall” for any of them.
“I’ve always been that player that would go for it, and I think it’s helped me become the player I am,” she said.
For Sinicki, the key to settling in at the college level has been to slow the game down. She does this with the help of her teammates — players like Cid, Williams, Terra McGowan, Allee Bunker and Brooke Yanez who have helped ease any nerves.
“I’ve been playing with these girls for a couple months now, and I’ve been really able to pick their brains and really get to learn so much from them,” Sinicki said.
The leaders on the team have aided her in various ways.
“[Williams] has helped me slow down the game, being on the left side with her,” Sinicki said. “And [Bunker], telling me to keep on top of my schoolwork and softball, I think that’s helped…. [McGowan] can just look at me, and she’s like, ‘Just breathe,’ and I’ll breathe at practice and zone back in.”
Sinicki does more than just zone back in, hustling and going hard on every play. When she’s out in the field, she’s locked in and has her sights squarely set on winning.
“Paige just goes for it,” Bunker said. “She has zero fear for her safety sometimes.”
The Ducks — “Version 4,” as they’ve dubbed themselves — still have a long way to go this season. Sinicki has already proven she belongs.
Now, it’s just about reminding herself what she’s been preaching since day one.
“If I can just slow it down and keep having fun with my girls, and just keep supporting each other, it makes the game really slow down,” Sinicki said.
