Lyme-Old Lyme’s Sybil Neary Enters Final Postseason With 100 Career Hits

Editor’s Note: This athlete profile was contributed by Lyme-Old Lyme High School student Fiona Judge.

LYME/OLD LYME, CT – As Sybil Neary heads into her final Shoreline Conference softball tournament, she’s bringing with her a rare achievement: 100 career hits. 

The Lyme-Old Lyme High School senior earned her 100th hit on April 29 in a game against Coginchaug High School. 

Neary, who plays shortstop, said in an interview last week that 100 hits was not a goal as an underclassman but became her target later in her junior season when she realized it was possible. 

Head Coach Kelliann Regan in an email described the milestone as “a huge accomplishment that is not achieved very often in our sport.”

The fourth-seeded team is set to play no. 5 seed Valley Regional on Friday, May 22, at 4 p.m. at home in the quarterfinals of the Shoreline tournament. Lyme-Old Lyme is going into the tournament with a 13-7 record.

Neary has participated in Little League and travel teams for twelve years. She said she practices year-round and works with private coaches. 

“I’ve played as much as I possibly can,” she said. “Softball has always been really fun.”

A softball captain since her junior year, she also is captain of the Westbrook/Lyme-Old Lyme girls field hockey co-op team and the Lyme-Old Lyme girls basketball team. 

The team “is good at just getting along,” according to Neary. She said she’s used to guiding the players on the field and off. 

“Our coach talks a lot about friendship and unity and how that’s the most important part. 
If you don’t have good team chemistry, you’re not gonna win. So I think that’s pretty important,” she said. 

Neary stated she enjoys working with such a young team and she has experience mentoring the freshmen. The team has numerous freshmen compared to only three senior players.

Sophomore Avery Goiangos acknowledged Neary’s impact. 

“She’s always done a very good job of keeping everybody really excited and keeping everybody engaged in the sport. She creates a really good environment for people around her,” Goiangos said. “So next year, without her, it’s gonna be hard because she plays a very important role on the team.”

Neary will attend the University of Arkansas in the fall, where she will study speech and communicative disorders. She does not plan to continue her athletic career in college. 

“I’ve made so many of my close friends, even outside of school, from softball,” she said. “It’s something I’m definitely going to miss, obviously, when I go to college.” 

She credited the softball coaching staff, which included an unusual amount of turnover due to retirements and maternity leave, with teaching her how to be the best athlete she can be. 

“I’ve had three different coaches in high school, which is not at all common. I think in their own way, I have good bonds with them and good relationships. They’re all very knowledgeable, so it wasn’t really that hard of an adjustment.”

With her softball career nearing a close, Neary was optimistic about the Shoreline and State tournaments coming up. In her sophomore year, the team made it to the Class S state semifinals. 

“My goals are to end the season having fun, enjoying my time, loving the girls and obviously performing well. Batting and in the field, I know we just want to get as far as possible,” Neary said. “We definitely can beat a lot of teams, so it would be cool to go to the Shoreline finals. I think that could happen if we really work hard.”

Regan praised Neary for adapting and growing as a player each season. 

“I am looking forward to finishing out her senior season with her as she continues to demonstrate leadership qualities, as well as athleticism and resilience on the field,” Regan said.