Alexa Romero already had a memorable career going with the Syracuse University softball team when the coronavirus added a unique twist.
The former Eaglecrest High School ace pitcher lost the second half of the season she had looked forward to as the pandemic forced the NCAA to cancel the remainder of all spring collegiate sports along with winter ones that hadn’t contested championships.
Romero had a period of despair, but now has some future resolution, as the organization voted to make available a fifth year of eligibility to senior athletes in spring sports. It took about as long as one of the pitches that has made Romero one of college softball’s strikeout queens to get to the plate before she decided to take it.
“To be honest, there was no choice. I knew once I heard I could come back, there was no doubt in my mind I would,” Romero told the Sentinel. “I wasn’t going to let this pandemic end my career. …I need to finish what I started. My family is happy, too. I don’t think they were ready for softball to end, either.”
That ability to finish came into question in March, when the coronavirus threat brought a sudden end to a season in which Syracuse had gotten off to a 10-10 start. Romero had a decision in eight of those games (4-4 plus one save) — with a 3.00 ERA in 63 innings pitched. She had amassed 66 strikeouts and felt like she was getting into a groove.
Like all college spring athletes, Romero was blindsided when the NCAA quickly moved to canceled the remainder of the season. She headed home with her future anything but clear.
“I was really sad; after our coach (Shannon Doepking) had told us they were telling everybody to go back to their hometowns and stay safe, we didn’t know what was going to happen,” Romero said. “It was very stressful.”
The good news for Romero (and the other senior on the team, outfielder Toni Martin) arrived on March 30 — 22 days after Syracuse’s last game — when the NCAA’s Division I Council voted to approve an additional season of competition for spring athletes. Both Romero and Martin intend to take advantage of the ruling.
They will find a welcoming situation, as Director of Athletics John Wildhack said Syracuse will support any senior that wishes to come back and compete.
“Inviting the spring sport student-athletes to come back to Syracuse to further their academic pursuits and experience closure for their collegiate athletics experience is the right thing to do,” Wildhack said in a statement.
“I appreciate the support of University leadership, the athletics administration, and the coaches in arriving at this decision and positioning the department to be able to support our student-athletes in fulfilling their academic and athletic pursuits,” he added.
Not every spring college senior athlete will have a chance to continue to compete, as the Ivy League has decided not to change its longstanding rule that prohibits graduated athletes from playing.
But Romero — a prep standout at Eaglecrest with a 28-10 record with a 2.97 ERA and 269 strikeouts in 245 innings for coach Yvette Hendrian’s program — will get a chance to add to a body of work that is already one for the Syracuse recordbooks, as she ranks in the top 10 in 12 career pitching categories already.
Romero is the program’s No. 2 pitcher all-time in strikeouts with 661 in her career — which included a sophomore season in which she led DI pitchers in strikeouts per seven innings at 10.9 — and she is in third place on the all-time wins list at 46.
She also gets another chance to work towards her goal of furthering her career.
“The future changes all the time, but I do still want to play professionally,” Romero said. “It just gives me one more chance to prove I can do it and work harder and harder. …I’m definitely not going to take next season for granted.”
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports