Kelly Barnhill

Kelly Barnhill, born on March 31, 1997, in Marietta, Georgia, established herself as a notable softball pitcher during her collegiate career at the University of Florida. She received national recognition early, being named the Georgia Gatorade Player of the Year and the USA Today Softball Player of the Year in 2015 while attending Pope High School. During her high school career, she recorded 22 no-hitters and was a three-time school-wide MVP, leading Pope to the 2014 Class 6A state championship. She joined the Florida Gators softball team in 2016.

Her college career showcased consistent performance and numerous accolades. In 2017, Barnhill led the NCAA in earned run average (0.51) and strikeouts per seven innings (13.0), earning titles such as USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, espnW Player of the Year, and the Honda Sports Award. She also won an ESPY Award for Best Female College Athlete that year. She continued to excel, becoming the NCAA Division I Academic All-American of the Year in softball in 2018. Throughout her time at Florida, she achieved several career records for the Gators, including lowest opponent batting average (.134) and highest career strikeouts (1,208). These achievements solidified her position as a prominent figure in collegiate softball.

In 2019, Barnhill was selected as the first overall pick by the Chicago Bandits in the NPF Draft, marking her entry into professional softball. She also represented Team USA multiple times, contributing to gold medals at the WBSC Women’s Softball World Championship in 2016 and 2018, and the WBSC Junior Women’s Softball World Championship in 2015. After concluding her professional softball career, which included stints overseas in Taiwan, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Colombia, and Australia, Kelly Barnhill transitioned her professional focus. She now serves as the Executive Director for Housing and Workforce Collective Solutions (HAWCS), an attainable housing organization based in Athens, Georgia.