Cancer can’t take softball away from PDX Cascade’s Paige Sinicki
Published 3:22 pm Thursday, July 9, 2026
Just more than a year ago, the former University of Oregon shortstop was having the time of her life. The Ducks had won a Big Ten championship, Sinicki had posted career highs in nearly every offensive category after winning the National Fastpitch Coaches Association’s Rawlings Gold Glove at shortstop a year prior, and she helped lead Oregon to the College World Series before playing for the Utah Talons of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League last summer.
That all changed in November of last year when the standout was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer while serving as a graduate assistant for the University of Utah’s softball program. She never waivered, however, taking to Instagram to cite her appreciation for life, along with her intention to fight the insidious disease.
“What a blessing it is to take each day, each hour, each second, and each moment one at a time,” Sinicki wrote on Instagram. “Cancer has not and will not take away from the things I love.”
Then came the fight itself, which entailed surgery, eight rounds of chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and all while the 22-year-old continued to train with a return to softball as her primary goal.
That goal came to fruition on Wednesday night, July 8, when Sinicki replaced Sis Bates at second base in the fifth inning of the Portland Cascade’s game against Carolina.
“I think I’ve learned a lot,” Sinicki said after the game. “The really big thing for me is taking one moment at a time. When I heard Car (Carley Hoover) say ‘one pitch’ today on the mound, it brought me back to times when I was in the treatment room just having to go one infusion at a time. So, just hearing that and hearing those words circulating around the field, it just grounded me.”
Sinicki was taken 20th overall by the Cascade in last December’s 2025 AUSL Allocation Draft and, after being picked, was ecstatic for the opportunity to continue her softball career at the professional level.
“I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to continue my softball career at the professional level,” Sinicki told goducks.com after being drafted. “I’m surrounded by so many supporters who have pushed, challenged and believed in me, and I feel truly blessed. I thank God every day for allowing me to play the game I love.”
The highly decorated infielder from Henderson, Nevada, went 0-for-1 at the plate in her Cascade debut Wednesday night but was her usual self defensively.
“I feel like it’s just second nature and I just feel like my mind just goes blank (when in the field),” Sinicki said. “I just feel like I’m playing whiffle ball with my friends. It’s such a cool feeling to have and experience.”
But while the former Duck was far from her best on the field, the moment was one that didn’t go unappreciated by Sinicki, who was just grateful to be back doing what she loves.
“I think that’s so important in life, just taking each moment and being really grateful, and having that gratitude for each day because you never know when your last day could be,” she said. “Being able to do what you love and not having anything take that away from you. I think that’s just so important.”
