Kelsey Harshman

Personal: Harshman’s mother, Shannah, played softball at Wichita State and was a member of the Canadian National Team. Her aunt, Jodie Biggan Porteous, was a member of the Canadian National Softball and Soccer Teams, and her other aunt, Alison Biggan McLeod, played soccer at the University of British Columbia and the Canadian National Junior Softball Team. Harshman’s favorite pregame meal is mini steak tacos, and her favorite softball memory is qualifying for the Olympics. She enjoys watching the TV show One Tree Hill and holds a bachelor's degree in human development and family studies from the University of Wisconsin. Harshman has two rescue dogs named Madi and Zona. She considers her mother as someone who has made a difference in her life. If she wasn't a softball player, Harshman would like to participate in "The Challenge" TV show. She played soccer as a child and enjoys trying new restaurants and recipes with her husband, Matt. Harshman also likes to swim and go for walks and her walk-up song is "It's Tricky" by Run DMC.

2023 Championship Season: Harshman finished fourth in the Athletes Unlimited season by collecting 1,006 leaderboard points. She ranked eighth in the league with 336 win points and earned 630 win points. Harshman finished fifth in the circuit with a .319 batting average and seventh in the league with a .407 on-base percentage. Additionally, she ended the season eighth in slugging percentage with a score of .511. Harshman tied with Morgan Zerkle for fourth in the league with 15 hits and was also ranked fourth in the league with 24 total bases. She was successful in all three stolen base attempts. Harshman hit safely in 10-of-15 games, including a string of five straight outings from August 4-12. She authored a pair of multi-hit efforts collecting three hits, including a home run, and scored twice against Team Zerkle on August 5. Harshman also tallied two hits against Team Alexander to close Week Four. She secured MVP 2 notice after blasting a game-tying two-run home run against Team Urtez on August 18 and posted six games with 100 or more leaderboard points.



2022 Championship Season: Harshman had her best finish in her three-year career with Athletes Unlimited Softball. She earned 1,260 leaderboard points, placing her 23rd in the league standings. Harshman also accumulated 330 stat points and 120 MVP points. She started in all 15 games and had a batting average of .333 with 15 hits, including five doubles, a triple, and a home run. During Week Three, she had three consecutive multi-hit games and drove in six runs. Harshman also hit three doubles and a home run during that week. She scored a run in six consecutive games from August 7-20 and served as a captain during Week Two.

2021 Championship Season: Harshman compiled 808 leaderboard points. She started in 14 out of 15 games and went 9-for-45 at the plate with a home run and three runs batted in. She also tallied six walks and was successful in one stolen base attempt.

2020 Championship Season: Harshman accumulated 880 leaderboard points. She started in 12 out of 14 games and had a batting average of .265 with one home run and six runs batted in. She also scored four runs and tallied two doubles. Harshman was hit by a pitch twice and had a sacrifice fly.

International Experience: Harshman has international experience playing for Team Canada. She helped lead the team to a Bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, batting .222 with three runs scored and two runs batted in. She also contributed to Canada's Bronze medal at the 2018 WBSC Women's Softball World Championship in Chiba, Japan. In the 2019 WBSC Americas Qualifier, she had an impressive .533 batting average with five doubles and 10 runs scored. Harshman joined the Canadian Junior National Team in 2015 and competed at the WBSC World Championship in Oklahoma City. She was also a member of the Team Canada squad for the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, where she had a .385 batting average with two doubles and four runs scored. Harshman competed for Canada at the 2022 Pan American Championships in Guatemala City, Guatemala, batting .647 with two home runs and nine runs batted in during round robin play. She was honored as Canada Softball's 2022 Home Run Sports Women's Fast Pitch Athlete of the Year. Harshman also earned an All-Star Award at the 2023 Canada Cup, where she guided Team Canada to a fifth-place finish with a 5-2 record. She competed for Team Canada at the 2023 WBSC World Cup Group C qualifier as well.

Other Professional Experience: In 2019, Harshman played for the NPF's Canadian Wild and had a batting average of .290 with two home runs and eight runs batted in.

At Wisconsin: Harshman was a four-year letter winner at the University of Wisconsin. She started all 208 games from 2015-2018 and had a career batting average of .369. She hit 22 home runs and had 127 runs batted in. Harshman accumulated 218 hits, including 40 doubles and two triples, and scored a school-record 180 runs. She also drew a school-record 181 walks and was hit by a pitch 18 times. Harshman became the first player in Wisconsin softball history to earn First-Team All-Big Ten Conference honors three times. She was also the first freshman in program history to earn a spot on the All-Big Ten First Team in 2015. Harshman was a two-time NFCA All-Region Second Team selection and a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree. As a senior, she was a unanimous First-Team All-Big Ten recipient, leading the team with 43 runs, 59 hits, and 45 walks. Harshman set a school record by reaching base safely in 40 consecutive games during her senior season and also established a Wisconsin single-season record with a .569 on-base percentage. She holds the Badgers' single-season record with 42 walks in 2015 and stole 18 bases as a freshman, setting a school rookie mark.