Kelly Barnhill

Kelly Katlyn Barnhill (born March 31, 1997)

Barnhill was selected first overall by the Chicago Bandits in the 2019 NPF Draft. Barnhill has also played softball for Team USA.

Early life and high school Born and raised in Marietta, Georgia, Barnhill tried out many sports in her youth, beginning with soccer. She led Pope to the 2014 class 6A state championship. Barnhill considered attending Stanford University, She was also named a National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) and Louisville Slugger High School All-American. In 2013 and 2014, she was a candidate for the Georgia Gatorade Player of the Year before being named in 2015. Barnhill played her freshman season for the Florida Gators in 2016. During the year, she was twice named the SEC Freshman of the Week. Those statistics were records among University of Florida pitchers; Barnhill set additional school records in lowest opponent batting average (.121), most combined shutouts (10), most strikeouts looking (100) and lowest stolen base percentage (.333). Florida was a No. 1 seed in the Women's College World Series (WCWS) and during their run, defeated Alabama 2–1 to advance to the final. The Gators matched up against Oklahoma for the best-of-three championship series, losing the first game 5–7 in a 17-inning bout. Florida was then swept by Oklahoma, losing the second game 4–5. Barnhill was named to the WCWS All-Tournament Team.

Her ERA during the season was noted by sports outlets, espnW commented in April that "the company she keeps in ERA at the moment is the context by which it is clear that she is the nation's best pitcher." espnW later named her their Softball Player of the Year, describing her as "NCAA softball's most statistically dominant pitching presence in a decade." She won the Honda Sports Award as the nation's top softball player. She was also named the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year in 2017. The NFCA named her a first-team All-American. On July 12, 2017, she was awarded the ESPY Award for Best Female College Athlete, for the 2017 season. She was the first player in Florida's softball program history to win an ESPY award. Barnhill was an academic honoree in 2018. She was once again named a first-team All-American by the NFCA.

2019 Entering her senior year, Barnhill became a founding member of UF's Alpha Phi chapter. On April 26, playing against Auburn, Barnhill recorded her 1,117th career strikeout, setting the UF record. She was named to the All-SEC Second Team, as well as her third consecutive SEC Academic Honor Roll.

The Gators defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide to win their second consecutive SEC tournament championship. The Gators suffered a 15–3 defeat to Alabama and the game marked one of Barnhill's shortest outings in her career. At the end of her Gators softball career, she held school records in ERA (0.92), opponent batting average (.134), and strikeouts (1,208). She finished her Gators career as the Florida program's career strikeouts leader. She also finished her career ranked highly in career strikeouts and strikeout ratio among players in both the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and NCAA Division I.

Professional career On April 16, 2019, the Chicago Bandits of the National Pro Fastpitch league selected Barnhill first overall in the 2019 NPF Draft. Her teammate at Florida, Amanda Lorenz, was selected directly after her by the USSSA Pride. She made her debut on June 8, tossing 4.2 innings against the Cleveland Comets. but went on to be swept by the Pride in the best-of-five championship series. Barnhill finished her rookie season with a 4–0 record, a 2.43 ERA, and 52 strikeouts in 44.2 innings. However, the league's 2020 and 2021 seasons were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the league folding in 2021. In 2020, she participated in the inaugural Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball AUX league. Barnhill made 11 appearances and 5 starts, finishing with a 3–1 win–loss record, 8.04 ERA, and 24 strikeouts.

Barnhill later played professionally overseas. In 2020, she played for the Xinliwang Lions of the Taiwan Professional Women's Softball League (TPWSL), after the league became the first in the world to start their season following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. As an import player, Barnhill completed a 14-day quarantine. In 2022, she played for the Howick Softball Club in New Zealand. She again played in the TPWSL in 2023. She strongly considered retiring after her season in Taiwan, citing losing a love of softball. However, she ultimately played one final season of professional softball in 2024, for , a club in the . She announced her retirement from professional softball on June 3, 2024.

National team career Barnhill represented Team USA on multiple occasions, beginning in 2015, when she was a member of the women's junior national softball team. That year she was a gold medalist at the 2015 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Junior Women's Softball World Championship. During that competition, Barnhill led the U.S. pitching staff with a 6–0 record, 51 strikeouts and a 0.54 ERA in 26 innings pitched. During the competition, she pitched seven innings with eight strikeouts and a 0.00 ERA. Barnhill later pitched for the Mexican national team in a 2020 exhibition game against Ole Miss.

Outside of softball Barnhill studied public relations while at Florida, and later attended the University of Oklahoma for graduate school studies. After retiring from softball, Barnhill became the executive director for Housing and Workforce Collective Solutions (HAWCS), an attainable housing organization based in Athens, Georgia.