O’Hara dominates on mound, at plate en route to national player of the week honors

Sydney O’Hara cemented her spot in the Syracuse record books Tuesday.

The freshman became the first player in program history to be named the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division I National Player of the Week after her performances on the mound and at the plate during the week of March 10.

O’Hara helped the Orange to a 5-1 record on a six-game road trip, posting a 4-0 mark on the mound in six appearances. She also logged a 1.22 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 23 innings. At the plate, O’Hara batted 10-for-20 with team-highs of three home runs, 10 runs scored and 11 RBIs.

She’ll look to stay hot when the Orange (10-14, 3-3 Atlantic Coast) continues conference play with three games against Georgia Tech (18-6, 7-4) this weekend. Due to the snow on Skytop Field preventing the games from being played in Syracuse as scheduled, the two teams will play in Atlanta.

The Orange has won three straight in conference and with an award in hand, O’Hara will look to push that streak.

“If you had asked me if I would’ve won this, I would’ve said no,” O’Hara said. “I’m very surprised.”

But SU head coach Leigh Ross wasn’t surprised.

She said the conversation she and O’Hara have prior to every time O’Hara takes the mound is indicative of her mentality as a player.

“Hey Syd, get in the circle and go,” Ross says.

“Ok, Coach. Give me the ball,” O’Hara responds.

Ross lauded how O’Hara plays far beyond her years and handles high stakes extremely well, especially for an 18-year-old.

The team has asked a lot of the freshman from the start, and O’Hara continues to impress despite only having six weeks of collegiate games under her belt.

“The kid has a lot on her shoulders,” Ross said. “We have a freshman as our No. 1 right now. I think she does a great job with it, and her team has a lot of confidence in her.”

Within the team, O’Hara and the other younger players each have a “big sister” to mentor them as they transition into collegiate softball.

O’Hara’s mentor, senior Shirley Daniels, set her own program record this past week but gave all the praise to her “little sister.”

“I was especially proud that she got that accomplishment,” Daniels said. “She works so hard on and off the field, and she’s a great person.”

Daniels added that everything about O’Hara’s game is explosive and that it’s great to see from a first-year player.

That explosiveness was certainly put on display this past week, as O’Hara registered a hit in each of the Orange’s six games. The last three days of the road trip were the most impressive, though, as O’Hara hit one home run on each day and went 8-for-14 with 11 RBIs in that short span.

She currently rides a six-game hitting streak, which is good for second longest on the team so far this season.

First, she made a name for herself at Syracuse after throwing a no-hitter in her first career start — and now her name’s on a national stage.

Said O’Hara: “Hopefully it wasn’t just one of those weekends, and it keeps on continuing throughout the season.”