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Amanda Sinay got a nice surprise at Cardinal Stritch's recent spring sports banquet.
Softball coach Don Zbierajewski announced to the crowd that Sinay, a senior center fielder and a four-year starter for the Cardinals, had earned honorable mention All-Ohio honors in Division III.
“I was really excited,” Sinay said of hearing the news. “I had no idea. I didn't even know that people from Stritch could get anything all-state because nobody had done it before. I was really honored.”
Sinay's all-state selection might be surprising for the simple fact that she played for a team that finished 8-10 in 2011. Her statistics, however, speak for themselves.
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| Amanda Sinay |
A three-time first-team All-TAAC, Alan Miller Jewelers All-Press, and all-district selection, Sinay, a leadoff hitter, batted .554 (36-for-.65) this season and scored 20 runs. She had 12 RBI and stole 19 bases in 19 attempts.
“She went 1-for-4 her last game (against Northwood) to go down to .554,” Zbierajewski said. “She was in the mid-.600s most of the year, but she hit a little snag the last six games or so.”
Sinay, with some help from former Cardinals coach Rick Henning and a lot of advice from former Stritch teammate Kristen Roznoski, made herself into one of the top hitters in TAAC history.
“She's really quick, and when she came in as a freshman she was a right-handed hitter,” Zbierajewski said. “Rick Henning turned her to the left side to get the ball in play and beat it out with slap hits and bunts. If the defense would move everybody in on her, she could drive the ball past them. She doesn't strike out a lot.”
Sinay, who batted .506 a year ago, said she was “kind of nervous” about moving to the left side of the plate as a freshman.
“I used to hit really well on the right side,” she said. “I didn't know if that was going to go well. I felt kind of special because (Henning) told me I was fast enough to go on the left-hand side. It's a lot different. He told me (about the switch) the first time we went to the batting cages before my freshman year.”
Sinay gives a lot of credit to Roznoski, a two-time TAAC Player of the Year, for helping her adjust to batting lefty. Roznoski is now a sophomore outfielder at Owens Community College.
“I basically watched everything she did,” Sinay said. “She would tell me all the tricks and stuff. She was a big help with that, probably the most influential person.”
Sinay said Roznoski's tutelage paid off in the way she approached every plate appearance. She learned to read the defense and tried to hit accordingly.
“If first and third base is playing back, I like to bunt it,” Sinay said. “If they're up, I slap it to the holes. If I get a bunt down my first time up, they move up and then I'll swing away. I got a couple doubles and a triple this year because of that. I'm not really picky at all about my pitch selection. If it looks good, I'll hit it.”
The 5-foot-4 Sinay was no slouch in center field, either. She had one error this season.
“That happened when the right fielder bumped into her and she dropped the ball,” Zbierajewski said. “Amanda was the one who got the glove on it. If she was mad (at being charged with an error), she didn't show it.
“She wants to be as good as she can be. If she doesn't understand something, she'll ask a question. If we're taking batting practice and she didn't have a particularly good round in the cage, she'll get back in there. She didn't want out of there until she was happy with what she was doing in there.”
Sinay competed in the Northwest District All-Star Game on June 6, her 18th birthday, for the third year in a row. She was a two-year starter on Stritch's varsity basketball and volleyball teams, but she will play softball at Owens next season.
She ranked third in her class at Stritch, with a 4.29 GPA, and plans to study either business or education in college.
“She was the one I looked to to lead the other players and set an example for them,” Zbierajewski said. “I'm going to miss that … and her .554 batting average.”
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