Baylee Klingler

Personal: Klingler’s father, Jimmy, was a quarterback at the University of Houston from 1991 to 1993. In 1992, he led the NCAA in passing touchdowns with 32 and total offense with 3,768 yards. He also played professionally in the Canadian Football League and Arena Football League. Her sister, Courtney, played softball at the University of Houston from 2015 to 2016 after transferring from Campbell University, while her brother, Cory, played football at Rice. Her uncle, David, spent six seasons in the National Football League following a record-setting college career at Houston from 1989 to 1991. Another uncle, Jeff Neal, played football at Howard Payne University before enjoying a professional career in both the NFL and Arena Football League. Klingler has volunteered with the MLB Play Ball initiative and has a dog named Luna. She lists University of Washington head softball coach Heather Tarr as someone who has made a difference in her life. She considers her mother, Tracey, one of her idols because she is a breast cancer survivor. Growing up, Klingler also competed in volleyball, basketball, and track and field. Her hobbies include reading, going for walks, and spending time in nature. She ran a half marathon during the offseason. Her proudest accomplishments are leading Washington to the NCAA Women’s College World Series and becoming a three-time All-America selection.

2024 Championship Season: Klingler tallied 1,110 leaderboard points, including 790 win points and 180 stat points, during her first Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball Championship Season. She tied for seventh in the league with 140 MVP points and was named to the AU Pro Softball All-Defensive Team. Klingler appeared in all 15 games, making 14 starts. She posted a .326 batting average with 14 hits, including two doubles, while driving in seven runs. She was a two-time Game MVP selection. Klingler finished Week Four with MVP 1 recognition and a season-high 200 leaderboard points after driving in three runs with a double against Team Faraimo. She also earned MVP 1 honors in the Week Two finale against Team Lorenz, posting a 2-for-3 performance that included a double. Klingler accumulated 100 or more leaderboard points in 7 of her 15 games.

2024 AUX Season: Klingler completed the first Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball season with 780 leaderboard points, including 680 win points. She authored five games with 100 or more leaderboard points and was a starter in all 12 games. She tallied seven hits, including a double, while scoring four runs. She opened her Athletes Unlimited career with a 2-for-3 performance against Team Wiggins on June 10 and collected a season-high 130 leaderboard points with a double against Team Wiggins on June 11.

2023 Championship Season: Klingler was one of 14 players selected in the Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball College Draft in 2023.

Other Professional Experience: Klingler was the second overall pick in the 2023 Women’s Professional Fastpitch Draft by Texas Smoke. During her rookie season, she appeared in 30 games and was selected to the All-WPF Team. She posted a .303 batting average with 33 hits, including nine doubles, three triples, and one home run. She drove in 18 runs and scored 19 times, achieving 11 multi-hit games. On July 28, she registered a season-high three hits, including a double, a triple, and a home run, against Smash It Sports Vipers.

International Experience: Klingler led Team USA to a gold medal at the 2017 WBSC Junior Women’s World Championship by hitting .393 with 10 runs scored, two home runs, and 12 runs batted in. She batted .500 at the World Cup of Softball XII, with nine hits, two runs scored, six RBIs, and one home run. She guided Team USA to the 2022 Canada Cup title by hitting .308 with a home run, four RBIs, and two runs scored. Additionally, she participated in the 2022 Japan All-Star Series and was named to the Team USA roster for the 2023 WBSC World Cup Qualifier.

At Washington: Klingler was a four-year letter winner at Washington, starting all 197 games of her career from 2020 to 2023 after transferring from Texas A&M. She ranks third on Washington’s career lists for batting average (.420), slugging percentage (.795), and on-base percentage (.499). She registered 256 hits, including 57 home runs, while driving in 204 runs. She posted three consecutive seasons with 70 or more hits and scored 163 runs during her career, including 56 runs as a sophomore. Klingler ranks fifth on the Huskies’ career home runs list and is one of eight players to drive in 200 or more career runs. She is one of three players in program history to hit three home runs in a game, achieving this feat against Northern Colorado on March 12, 2022. She also stands as one of four Washington players with four or more career grand slams.

Klingler was a three-time First-Team All-Pac-12 Conference selection and was named the 2022 Pac-12 Player of the Year. She was a three-time NFCA All-America honoree, receiving First-Team commendations in 2022 and 2023. She earned First-Team All-Pacific Region accolades in each of her final three seasons and received First-Team All-America notice from Softball America and D1Softball as a fifth-year senior. She was honored as a Top 25 Finalist for the 2023 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award after guiding Washington to an NCAA Women’s College World Series appearance. During the 2023 campaign, Klingler led the Huskies in batting average (.385), slugging percentage (.663), runs scored (42), hits (72), runs batted in (47), doubles (14), home runs (12), total bases (124), and walks (34). She joined Madison Huskey as the only Washington players to start all 59 games.

In 2022, Klingler was a Top 3 Finalist for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year after hitting 24 home runs, including four grand slams, ranking fourth in NCAA Division I. She became the fourth player in Pac-12 Conference history to lead the league in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in during the regular season. As a senior, she hit .434 with 75 hits, including 39 extra-base hits, while driving in 71 runs. Klingler was named Second-Team NFCA All-America during her junior season, sporting a .416 batting average with 16 home runs and 53 runs batted in. She was a First-Team NFCA All-Region and All-Pac-12 performer and became the first Washington player since Ali Aguilar to score 50 runs and drive in 50 runs in the same season. She also stole a career-best six bases. During the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign, Klingler started all 25 games and boasted a .481 batting average with five home runs and 33 runs batted in. As a freshman at Texas A&M, she earned starting assignments in all 55 games, authored a .289 batting average with five home runs and 29 runs batted in, and belted all five of her home runs against Southeastern Conference opponents to earn SEC All-Freshman Team honors.