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Oklahoma Duo Helps Power Team Mexico to First Olympic Softball Win

Sydney Romero, Nicole Mendes got hot at the plate as the Mexican National Team positioned itself to play for the bronze medal.

John E. Hoover

As expected, Team Mexico’s Olympic softball squad has a distinctive Oklahoma flavor.

And thanks partly to those former Sooners, they’re now one win away from playing for their first ever medal.

Former Sooner Sydney Romero hit her first ever Olympic home run Sunday to power the Mexican team to a 5-0 victory over Italy.

Batting leadoff, Romero was 2-for-3 on the day with the homer, a double, and a walk.

Nicole Mendes, playing as Nicole Rangel on the official roster (her jersey still says Mendes), went 1-for-4 on the day hitting from the 2-hole and scored a run.

Team Mexico lost its first three games of the tournament, 4-0 to Canada, 3-2 to Japan and 2-0 to the United States.

But Sunday at Yokohama Stadium, Dallas Escobedo threw a one-hitter and the Mexican National Team β€” which was swept by the Sooners in a three-game exhibition this past spring β€” secured their first Olympic victory.

On Monday, Mexico faces Australia (6 a.m. CT) in the final game of the round-robin, with the winner advancing to face Canada in the bronze medal game on Tuesday (midnight CT).

Japan and Team USA are both 4-0 going into Sunday night’s pool play meeting and will play again in the gold medal game on Tuesday (6 a.m. CT).

Through the first four games of the Olympics, Romero, the designated player and third baseman, is hitting .273 (3-for-11) with one run and one RBI while Mendes, in centerfield, is up to .143 (2-for-14) with one run scored.Β 

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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