OU Olympians: Nicole Mendes, Sydney Romero Help Team Mexico to Bronze Medal Game

The Mexican National Team hadn't won a softball game before yesterday, now they're on their way to the medal round in Japan.

John E. Hoover|

A day after powering Team Mexico to its first-ever Olympic victory in the sport of softball, former Oklahoma players Sydney Romero and Nicole Mendes helped their squad to another win — and an unlikely berth in the medal round.

Mexico beat Australia 4-1 on Monday at Yokohama Stadium as Romero and Mendes (playing on the roster as Nicole Rangel) batted 1-2 in the lineup.

Romero, the designated player, went 0-for-4. Mendes, the center fielder, was 1-for-4.

Mexico scored twice in the second and twice in the fourth to take a 4-0 lead before Australia hit a solo home run in the sixth.

Team Mexico now plays Canada again on Tuesday morning (Monday night, 11 p.m. CT) in the bronze medal game.

The United States escaped Sunday night’s pool play with a walk-off win over Japan. Those two teams meet again Tuesday night (Tuesday morning, 6 a.m. CT) for the gold medal.

Published Jul 26, 2021

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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