Neli Casares-Maher’s mom had cancer twice. Softball helped her through it.
Jordan Phelps | Staff Photographer
Neli Casares-Maher leads Syracuse in 10 offensive categories. She steps up to the plate in honor of her mother who beat cancer twice.
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At 5 years old, Neli Casares-Maher often begged her parents to let her play ball at her local park. They played catch, hit grounders and shagged each ball she crushed into the outfield. But Casares-Maher was disappointed that those same types of plays weren’t replicated in her coed tee-ball league.
“When do we get to play real baseball?” Casares-Maher would ask her mother, Sharon. She wanted to play for something more hitting off the tee wasn’t enough for someone with her skillset.
National signing day 2020: Meet the Oregon Ducks 2021 football recruiting class
Updated Dec 16, 2020;
EUGENE ― Oregon signed 20 players to its 2021 recruiting class, the best in program history.
The Ducks’ class is ranked atop the Pac-12 for the third straight year and No. 6 nationally in the 247Sports Composite.
Four offensive linemen, a trio of heralded receivers, three outside linebackers, pairs of tight ends, safeties and cornerbacks and an inside linebacker, defensive tackle, quarterback and running back made up the class, which has room to add between now and February’s signing period.
Here’s a look at the class, with bios courtesy of Oregon athletics: