Haylie McCleney

Personal: McCleney earned her Master's degree in exercise physiology from Florida Atlantic University and became a member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association as a certified strength and conditioning specialist. Her father, John, played baseball at Samford University, and she is engaged to former Florida State softball standout Kylee Hanson. McCleney owns two dogs named Nole and Mac and lists Alabama softball coach Patrick Murphy as a person who has made a difference in her life. She would be a strength coach if she were not playing softball and enjoys going to the beach, reading, and going on vacations. McCleney met former Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt on a visit to Tennessee during her high school career, wears No. 28 in honor of the jersey numbers her father (2) and fiancée (8) wore during their careers, and lists "Been About It" by Andy Mineo and "Dixieland Delight" by Alabama as her walk-up songs. McCleney is passionate about growing professional softball.

2024 AUX Season: During the third Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball AUX campaign, McCleney accrued 810 leaderboard points, which included 590 win points and 220 stat points. She was a starter in all 12 games and collected eight hits, including a double, a triple, and a home run. Throughout the season, she drove in three runs while scoring nine times and also drew six walks. McCleney hit safely in six of the final nine games after opening the season with just one hit in her first three outings. She secured a season-high of 180 leaderboard points after drawing two walks and hitting a home run against Team Nickles on June 23. Additionally, she had a 2-for-3 performance with two runs scored on June 16 against Team Edwards in a 130-point outing.

2023 Championship Season: McCleney claimed 25th place in the final league standings with 1,184 leaderboard points. She collected her third consecutive Athletes Unlimited Softball All-Defensive Team commendation. She posted a 2-1 record as a team captain. McCleney was a starter in all 15 games and led the league with 13 walks. She posted six hits, including three doubles, in 42 at-bats. She opened the season with a hit in all three games during Week One and closed the campaign with a hit in three of her final four outings. She scored three runs in the season opener against Team Denham on July 28. McCleney registered eight games with 100 or more leaderboard points, including four of her final five outings. 

2023 AUX Season: McCleney achieved her third top-10 finish in her career. She placed seventh with a total of 996 leaderboard points, with 230 points earned against Team Leach on June 25. McCleney accumulated 710 win points and 226 stat points. She was awarded MVP 1 in Team Garcia's 15-4 victory over Team Leach on June 25. McCleney had an impressive performance at the plate, hitting .375 in all 10 games she started. She tied with Aubrey Leach for the league lead in hits, recording 15 hits, including a double, a triple, and a home run. McCleney also contributed seven RBIs and scored 10 runs. She had at least one hit in 8 out of 10 games, with four multi-hit performances. One notable game for McCleney was against Team Leach on June 25, where she went 4-for-5 with three RBIs, including a double, and scored three runs. She also had a three-hit performance against Team Leach on June 21, which included a triple. McCleney had a six-game hitting streak from June 14 to June 21.

2022 Championship Season: McCleney was selected for the All-Defensive Team for the second year in a row. She earned 1,650 leaderboard points, including 410 stat points, and tied for fourth with 180 MVP points. McCleney started every game, had 20 or more hits, including six doubles and two home runs, and went 3-for-3 with a double, a home run, and three runs batted in against Team Eberle on August 6. Additionally, she collected four hits, including a double, while scoring three runs against Team Chidester on August 13. McCleney hit safely in four games from August 13-20, going 10-for-19 at the plate with five runs scored.

2022 AUX Season: McCleney earned 11th place in the league standings with 1,148 leaderboard points. She started in 11 of 12 games and hit .263 with 10 hits, including one double and one home run. She drew a league-high 12 walks while driving in six runs and scored nine runs, good for a share of third place in the circuit. McCleney posted three two-hit performances. She hit a double and drove in two runs against Team Ocasio in the season opener on June 13.

2021 Championship Season: McCleney finished in 12th place on the leaderboard standings with 1,402 points. She was a member of the inaugural Athletes Unlimited Softball All-Defensive Team and had a .378 batting average while starting 14 games. McCleney was third in the league with 14 runs scored and 17 hits, tied for ninth in the circuit with three doubles, and one of 13 players to register a sacrifice fly.

2020 Championship Season: McCleney shared fifth place on the league leaderboard with Morgan Zerkle and Gwen Svekis after compiling 1,710 points. She tied with Erika Piancastelli for sixth place with 490 stat points and also tallied 180 points, which tied Sahvanna Jaquish and Haylie Wagner for sixth in the circuit. McCleney batted .396 while starting all 15 games, tied for the league lead with 53 at-bats, and her 21 hits were good for a share of second place. She also scored 16 runs to tie Jaquish for second in the league, blasted six home runs, good for third among all hitters, and drove in 13 runs. McCleney was one of four players to record 40 or more total bases.

International Experience: McCleney has been a member of Team USA since 2013 and helped the United States win a Silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, earning a spot on the WBSC All-Olympic Team. She led the team with a .529 batting average with a triple and four runs scored, hit safely in five of her six appearances, including a three-hit performance against Canada, and led Team USA to Gold medals at the 2016 and 2018 WBSC Women's World Championships. McCleney posted a team-high .520 average with two home runs and 14 runs scored during the 2018 event after hitting .400 with seven runs scored and a home run in 2016. She fashioned a .370 batting average in guiding Team USA to a Silver medal at the 2014 WBSC Women's World Championship and was a member of the Gold medal-winning squad at the 2017 and 2019 Pan American Games. McCleney competed in the World Cup of Softball from 2014-17, winning two Gold medals and two Silver medals, and was named Most Valuable Player at The 2022 World Games after leading Team USA to a Gold medal. She was also a member of the All-World Team and hit .533 with eight hits, including two doubles, and five runs batted in. McCleney went 3-for-3 against Australia in a semifinal victory with two runs scored. She was named to the Team USA roster for the 2024 WBSC World Cup Finals.

At Alabama: McCleney was a four-year letter winner from 2013-16. She was one of six players in program history to earn NFCA All-America honors four times, including three First-Team commendations. McCleney started 247 of 248 games during her career for the Crimson Tide and had a .447 career batting average with 27 home runs and 162 runs batted in. She also compiled 313 hits, including 57 doubles and 16 triples, while scoring 279 runs. McCleney stands as the Crimson Tide's all-time leader in batting average, on-base percentage, and triples, ranks second in school history with a .944 career stolen base percentage, swiping 118 bases in 125 attempts, and holds second place on the career walks list with 199. She was a four-time First-Team NFCA All-Region performer, received First-Team All-Southeastern Conference distinction three times, and was a Second-Team selection as a freshman. McCleney was a three-time CoSIDA Academic All-America pick who was named Academic All-America Team Member of the Year in 2015 and 2016, won the 2016 Senior CLASS Award, was a finalist for the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year award, and received the 2016 NCAA Top 10 Award. She was named the 2015 SEC Softball Scholar-Athlete of the Year and tallied three grand slams during her career. McCleney owns Alabama single-game records for runs scored, walks, and times hit by a pitch, and posted a .465 batting average as a freshman, which ranks fourth in Alabama history. She set the Crimson Tide single-season record with a .596 on-base percentage during her senior season.