Minnesota softball commit Sydney Schwartz ready for success as a Gopher
CHANHASSEN, Minn. (BVM) – The reigning Gatorade Minnesota Softball Player of the Year, Sydney Schwartz, is making a great case for winning the award again.
The University of Minnesota commit has the Chanhassen Storm as one of the top teams in the state once again. The Storm have returned most of the team from last year that made it all the way to the MSHSL Softball Class AAAA state tournament semifinal.
“I’m feeling pretty good about it so far and I think we have a good shot at sections, too,” Schwartz said.
Schwartz has been dominant on the mound and at the plate. Earlier this season, she reached 500 career strikeouts and already has 12 homeruns on the season.
“I didn’t even know about it until I looked at the stats,” Schwartz said about reaching 500 strikeouts.
@chanstormsb celebrates Sydney Schwartz 500th strikeout! pic.twitter.com/pudUvviHRp
— Storm Athletics (@chanstormAD) May 7, 2022
The season is looking very similar to last year. The Storm won the Section 2AAAA championship on their way to a state tournament run. Schwartz was unhittable on the mound with an ERA of 0.95 with 287 strikeouts. On offense, she had a staggering 1.932 OPS with 11 home runs.
It was those incredible stats and her part in Chanhassen’s run to the state tournament that earned her the Gatorade state player of the year award.
“It was awesome because I had worked super hard in the offseason and just to have it pay off, it’s a good feeling,” Schwartz said.
An award like that and the season that Schwartz had was a real eye opener for her. Schwartz has competed at a high level for a long time and was already committed to the Gophers before the season even started. But having the kind of success she did on the field last year showed that she was ready for the challenges that await her at college.
“I think it didn’t really hit me like how good I could be until last year honestly,” Schwartz said. “I was committed to Minnesota already but I hadn’t tapped into my full potential yet, which I still haven’t. I think my junior year is when it hit me like, ‘Oh I could really succeed at the next level.’”
That confidence is also backed by the fact that she knows what college softball will be like. Her older sister, Maddie, currently plays softball at the University of Wisconsin. She has always been there for Sydney and has told her what it takes to play high level college softball.
“She doesn’t hold anything back, she tells me how hard it’s going to be,” Schwartz said. “She’s very honest about it so I think that’s helping me the most.”
Those conversations with Maddie have actually just made Sydney even more excited about playing for the Gophers. She loves the day-to-day grind of being an athlete and hearing about what it takes to make it at the next level just makes her want to get started.
Sydney is also excited because she will get a chance to play against her sister who is staying in Madison and using the extra year of eligibility given to college athletes due to covid. Meaning the Minnesota vs. Wisconsin games will have sibling rivalry components added to them.
“There’s going to be a lot of competitiveness once that game comes around,” Sydney said.
Already friends and family have been warned they’ll have to pick a side. Sydney and Maddie’s parents are working on acquiring half Badger, half Gopher outfits but Sydney did have one request about the color scheme of the outfit.
“Maybe just choose the darker shade of red,” Sydney said.
There was a chance that the two sisters would actually be playing with each other rather than against since Wisconsin did recruit Sydney. But the younger Schwartz couldn’t pass up the chance to play for the University of Minnesota.
“I just fell in love with Minnesota,” Sydney said.
Sydney verbally committed during the fall of 2020 and then made it official last November on National Signing Day. For someone who grew up going to Gopher softball games and attending camps at Minnesota since she was 10, it was a dream come true.
It also gave Sydney a chance to show those across the state that you can stay home as a high-level recruit. She takes pride in that and loves that she will be able to represent Minnesota because that is where she is from and it’s the jersey she will wear.
“I’m so excited,” Sydney said. “I think just being able to represent Minnesota and staying here, being the kid that everyone is like, ‘Oh she’s coming to Minnesota, she’s staying home.’ I just think it’s super cool.”
Sydney doesn’t just want to stay home either, she wants to succeed, too. Finishing strong with Chanhassen is the current priority but then it is onto campus where her next goal lies.
“I want to for sure make it to a world series, win a world series,” Sydney said. “That’s the main goal. Winning is fun.”
