Michigan great’s
legacy will carry
far beyond her

illustrious career

By ORION SANG

Daily Sports Writer

Sierra Romero still remembers

the first time she saw Michigan
coach Carol Hutchins get ejected.

Early during her recruitment

process, Romero, a high-schooler
at the time, was watching the
Wolverines in action during one of
their early-season tournaments in
California.

Michigan, Romero recalled, was

struggling and in need of a spark.

And Hutchins provided it,

arguing a call with an umpire and
subsequently getting tossed.

“I was so pumped when I saw her

get kicked out,” Romero recalled.
“I think she was purposely trying
to do that because she wanted the
team to get a little fire in them.
Right after she got kicked out of
the game, they scored a ton of runs
and ended up winning.”

Romero wasn’t put off by her

future coach’s fiery display — in
fact, she admired it.

“I want a coach that’s going to

fight for me,” she said.

* * *

Fast forward to a Wednesday

afternoon
last
month,
and

sophomore catcher Aidan Falk
is sitting in the softball team’s
administrative building talking
about Romero.

The
No.
2
Michigan

softball team has just finished
conditioning, and Falk is still
wearing her uniform.

Asked
about
her
first

impressions
of
Romero,
Falk

grins and laughs before giving her
answer — an answer that suggests
Romero and Hutchins possess the
same type of on-the-field presence.

“I was intimidated — hands-

down intimidated,” Falk recalls.
“She has a very fierce look on
her face when she plays, and I
was like, ‘Oh, this girl is going to
be terrifying.’ ”

Just before Falk finishes, the

door opens, and Romero herself
walks in. She’s followed by a
procession of several teammates,
who file in and sit down next
to Falk. Romero, though, heads
to the side, out of view. As Falk
talks about Romero, about her
leadership, batting advice and the
impromptu dance sessions the two
occasionally hold during batting
practice, the senior shortstop is
within earshot.

When Falk finishes talking, the

attention turns to Romero.

At first glance, it’s not clear

what had Falk so intimidated.
Romero is relatively small in
stature, standing at 5-foot-5, and
her facial expression is neutral.

She is asked about her mindset

going into the fourth at-bat of a
recent game against Florida State,
after she had struck out three
consecutive times, and the room
falls silent. Intentional or not,
the intimidation Falk recalled is
apparent now. The calm vibe of
the room is gone, and Romero now

stares straight ahead.

“Swing the bat.”
The room remains silent for a

couple seconds. Her teammates
glance at her, and then break out
into laughter.

Sierra Romero is here, and

you’ve just been introduced.

* * *

It was apparent early on to

Michael and Melissa Romero that
their eldest daughter was mature
for her age. Michael remembers
being able to take Sierra as a baby
to restaurants without worrying
about her throwing a tantrum. He
barely remembers her ever crying
at all.

“She,
out
of
all
of
my

children, was probably the least
maintenance,” Michael said. “She
just did her own thing. We got
lucky with her.”

During one of her dad’s baseball

games, which she often attended
growing up, Sierra was in the
bleachers with her mom when her
dad blasted a home run so far it
landed on the freeway.

“I remember looking at my

mom (and) freaking out,” Romero
said. “I didn’t know a ball could go
so far. (After that), I would always
fall asleep watching baseball on
(my dad’s) back in the living room,
so he put me in softball because he
saw how much I liked it.”

Though her dad’s baseball-

playing days may have influenced
Sierra to pick up softball, he
believes her early skill developed
from her love of the game — she
simply wanted to be good so badly.

“I was always at softball

games,” Romero said. “(I was)
always practicing and always
wanted to play on the best travel
ball team, so I was constantly on
the go every weekend. Traveling
up to Anaheim, Orange County,
whether it was for training or
practice, but it was pretty much
sports all the time.”

With that conviction, it wasn’t

long before Romero and her parents
started fielding requests from
travel ball coaches who wanted
Sierra to play on their teams.

At just 8 years old, Romero

embraced the tough competition,
long
drives
and
year-round

schedule. She knew playing travel
ball could eventually land her a
college scholarship, and that was
her next goal.

Despite an admitted desire

to coach her, Michael stuck to
providing
occasional
off-field

advice. He let his daughter learn
from the tutelage of her coaches
and peers as she gradually became
a highly touted prospect.

Then, when she was getting

ready to enter high school, she had
her big breakthrough.

Romero
was
invited
to
a

selective
recruiting
camp
in

California, and shortly thereafter,
began
receiving
e-mails
and

letters from colleges.

Throughout her recruitment,

there was always one school that
stood out among the rest, partly
because of a childhood experience.

When she was 8 years old,

Romero attended her first college
fastpitch softball game, a contest
between San Diego State and
Michigan.

“I don’t remember a ton about

it, but I definitely remember
going and watching the team,”
Romero said. “My dad
said that I told him
that I wanted
to play for

Michigan. And at that time I was
so young that I didn’t even know
I was going to be recruited, but he
took me to all the games that we
could go to with our schedule, and
I remember going and watching
Michigan play a lot.”

It’s usually the head coach

that’s always calling the sought-
after recruit, but Romero was
so excited about Michigan that
she couldn’t stop herself from
constantly phoning Hutchins.

Romero called every week on

Friday, or every other week on
Friday. She always wanted to talk
to Hutchins, and it was always on
a Friday night.

“ ‘Aren’t you going out and

hanging out with your friends
or something?’ ” Romero recalls
Hutchins saying. “I’d be like,
‘Maybe later,’ but I’d just want to
stay at home and relax because I
was usually tired from softball.”

They talked about everything,

and the two were really close
before Romero even enrolled.

She
and
her
family
then

scheduled an unofficial visit, with
one caveat: Sierra insisted that it
take place during the infamous
Michigan winter.

“It was during a camp, so I was

going to get to
play
softball

and experience
Michigan at its
worst, because
I
had
never

really been in
snow,” Romero
said. “If I liked
it, I knew I
could definitely
be
there
for

four to five years.”

The question of whether or not

she could handle the weather was
answered near the end of their
visit: While her dad was trying to
reach their car in a snowstorm,
Sierra
was
busy
throwing

snowballs at him.

She loved the visit so much

that she wanted to make
a
verbal
commitment

during the trip, but Hutchins

insisted she wait and think

it over. So Romero took a

couple days to let the euphoria
simmer down, but her feelings for
Michigan had not subsided.

She told her parents, and

then called Hutchins to deliver
the news. The choice itself was
easy; in fact, the hardest part

of her commitment process

was letting other coaches

know that she had chosen

Michigan
and
would

be cancelling already-

scheduled visits to their
schools.

Eight-year-old

Sierra’s
dream
of

playing
for
the

Wolverines
was

coming true.

* * *

Of course, the expectations for

Romero were sky high.

By the time her high school

career was over, she had risen to
a lofty ranking as the No. 3 recruit
in the nation, according to ESPN.

After predominantly playing

second base before coming to
Michigan, Romero learned how
to play shortstop at the collegiate
level from her veteran teammates.
She seized the starting job heading
into spring practice before her
freshman year.

With her confidence at a high,

Sierra’s collegiate career started
with a bang. In her second game,
she hit her first home run — a
grand slam.

It was a sign of things to come.
As a freshman, she started all

64 games, led the team in each
major batting statistic, set a
Michigan single-season homerun
record, earned Big Ten Player of
the Year honors and was named a
second-team All-American.

Her second year would only

be better, as she increased most
of her batting statistics, received
first team All-American honors
and was once again the Big Ten
Player of the Year.

Defensively, she cut her errors

to almost half
of what they
were
as
a

freshman.

And
her

junior
season

— last year —
saw even fewer
errors
and

an
improved

fielding
percentage,

while she continued to excel at the
plate.

The team also had the most

success of her career, finishing
as runner-up to Florida after a
closely contested World Series.

Now in the final stretch of

her career, Romero is the type
of mentor to her teammates that
former players once were for her.

She’s also gone from the

intimidated to the intimidator.

* * *

Like Falk, freshman infielder

Faith Canfield remembers being

scared by the thought of playing
with someone as good as Romero.
It turned out that getting to know
the second baseman — Romero
switched to second base between
her sophomore and junior years —
was easier than
she thought.

“She’s
just

like
everyone

else,” Canfield
said. “She is one
of the hardest-
working
(players).
She

has come to all
the
freshmen

— she’s there to
pick us up, and is doing a good job
teaching us the ropes. She’s just an
amazing player to play with and
definitely a huge role model.”

Canfield said the moral support

provided by Romero is especially
comforting and shows what type
of leader she is.

“They threw me in at first (in)

the last inning of a game, and I
dropped the ball,” Canfield said.
“I walked over (to second base)
and did a frustrated sigh, and
(Romero) goes, ‘What’s wrong?’
I was like, ‘Just should’ve caught
that.’ She said, ‘We’re all going to
mess up. Everything’s all right.
Don’t stress yourself.’ ”

And while Romero clearly has

a large impact on her younger
teammates, her fellow captains
Kelly
Christner
and
Olivia

Richvalsky are evidence that
Romero’s
influence
spreads

beyond just the underclassmen.

“You can go up to her if you

need
advice,
softball-wise
or

anything else,” Christner said. “So
I think just having that connection
with her is good.

“She’s very similar to Hutch.

They both just have that presence.
They’re kind of intimidating, but
once you get to know them, they’re
completely down to earth, easy to
talk to, easy to go to for anything,
very honest people.”

Richvalsky, Romero’s roommate

and close friend, feels a similar way.

“If you ever need someone to

have your back, Sierra is who I
go to,” Richvalsky said. “She’s
loyal and honest. I admire her
ability to play through any type
of struggles. Injuries, mental
blocks, she prevails. That’s why
I’ve always looked up to her, even
being a peer.”

* * *

On Feb. 26, the Romero family

gathered in Palm Springs, Calif.,
to watch Sierra take on her little
sister, Sydney, and the Oklahoma
Sooners in the Mary Nutter
Collegiate Classic.

The siblings, three years apart

in age, briefly played together in
recreational ball as youngsters and
later shared Vista Murrieta High
School’s infield for one year. But
facing each other wasn’t difficult.

“Of course, I wanted to win,

and she wanted to win,” Sierra
said. “But we were more excited to
see each other.”

In fact, part of the reason

Sydney was wearing crimson and
cream instead of maize and blue
was because of Sierra’s advice.
Sierra didn’t pressure Sydney to
join her in Ann Arbor.

“I know I love Michigan, but that

doesn’t mean she’s going to,” Sierra
said. “So I just told her, ‘You have to
go where you’re going to be happy
for four years, because I’m only
going to be (at Michigan) for one.’ ”

Sierra’s
relationships
with

Sydney and her two other siblings
have always been positive.

Her brother Michael plays

baseball and idolizes his softball-
playing sisters, especially Sierra.
He says all the time that he wants
to play baseball at Michigan
because she went there.

Michigan

emerged
with
a
16-9

victory against
Oklahoma,
and when the
two teams met
for
postgame

handshakes,
Sierra
and

Sydney
embraced

before continuing down the line.

* * *

As Romero’s career comes to its

close, Hutchins contemplates what
her star player’s legacy will be.

Though the coach mentions it

will be hard to overlook Romero’s
personal accomplishments, she
believes how Romero will be
remembered will depend on how
she has affected those around her.

“She’s a typical kid who is

very consumed with her game,”
Hutchins
said.
“She’s
always

been a good teammate, but
learning how to be consumed
with her teammates’ game, that’s
something that I think she’s
learned and really embraced.”

Romero has similar thoughts to

her coach.

“I think a great player is

somebody who can bring everyone
else to their level,” she said. “A
good player is a good player, and
they’re going to continue to do
well, but if you’re able to do well
and also bring everyone else
around you to that level and make
them better, then that just puts
you toward the top.”

And though she has achieved

most of her goals throughout
life, from playing for the nation’s
most prestigious travel ball team
to earning a scholarship from
Michigan, Romero thinks that
she will never be done improving
as a leader and influencing those
around her.

“I don’t think I’m ever going

to be satisfied with the way that
I lead,” she said. “There’s always
something you can learn or do
better at. I don’t think I’m ever
going to stop fully learning how to
be the best I can be.”

She will finish as the school’s

all-time leader in home runs, RBI,
walks and runs, and barring an
extended slump, as its all-time
leader in batting and slugging
percentage as well.

But she doesn’t want that to be

her legacy.

She may even help complete

the team’s run to a national
championship, but she doesn’t
want that to define her either.

Maybe the legacy of Sierra

Romero won’t show in her first
game or in her last game, but rather
in the way her leadership is carried
on by her teammates in the seasons
to come. Maybe it will show in the
influence she has on her siblings
and in the dreams of many young
fans who clamor for autographs
before and after games, all wanting
to be the next No. 32.

It seems odd that perhaps the

greatest statistical hitter in team
history will not be best known for
her numbers.

But, then again, maybe that’s

the point.

8A — Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Sierra Romero’s lasting influence

“If you ever need
someone to have
your back, Sierra
is who I go to.”

“I don’t think I’m
ever going to be
satisfied with the
way that I lead.”

DELANEY RYAN/Daily

Senior second baseman Sierra Romero will leave as the greatest statistical hitter in Michigan softball history.

DELANEY RYAN/Daily

Read the full feature online at
MichiganDaily.com