Taylor McQuillin

Personal: McQuillin was named an assistant softball coach at Southern Utah on July 30, 2024. She helped mentor the Thunderbirds to a No. 3 seed in the 2025 Western Athletic Conference Championship after the team posted a 13-11 league record. McQuillin’s proudest moment was representing her family as a member of Team Mexico and qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Her favorite piece of advice is to “Be where your feet are.” Her hobbies include cooking, reading, visiting coffee shops, shopping, and working out. She also enjoys watching college softball, as well as interior design and home renovation. McQuillin has been legally blind in her left eye since birth. Her uncle, Tim Quintanilla, played baseball at USC. She has a Great Dane named Fenway, named after Fenway Park in Boston, and an English bulldog named Bru. If she were not a softball player, McQuillin says she would want to be either a neonatal nurse or doctor, work in forensics and crime scene units, or pursue a career in interior design. As a child, she participated in soccer, dance, tae kwon do, piano lessons, and swimming. Her walk-up songs are “Bossy” by Kelis and “Did It on ‘Em” by Nicki Minaj. She lists former Arizona head softball coach Mike Candrea among the people who have made a difference in her life, and models her game after Susie Parra. McQuillin considers her father, Ron, one of her idols because of his perseverance. She says she felt starstruck when she met Shemar Moore before the ESPYs in 2014.

2024 Championship Season: McQuillin ended her sixth Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball season with a 23rd place standing after accumulating 1,242 leaderboard points, including 840 win points. She tied for fourth in the league with 160 MVP points and earned four Game MVP commendations, ranking third in the circuit. McQuillin also tallied 242 stat points. She served as a team captain during Week Two and Week Three. McQuillin appeared in 10 games with six starts, compiling a 6-3 record and a 3.03 earned run average. She ranked fourth in the league with 26 strikeouts and 34.2 innings pitched. McQuillin opened the season with an MVP 2 performance against Team Svekis, throwing 3.0 innings of scoreless relief with two strikeouts. She also claimed an MVP 3 certificate in her July 27 start against Team Romero, posting three strikeouts over 3.0 innings while allowing one run on two hits. McQuillin closed the season with six strikeouts over 6.0 innings in a victory over Team Lorenz. She started Week Four with back-to-back victories in relief against Team Kilfoyl and Team Faraimo. McQuillin threw a career-high 7.1 innings, allowing just three hits in an August 4 triumph over Team Kilfoyl. She recorded 100 or more leaderboard points in a game six times, including four outings with 150 or more points.

2024 AUX Season: McQuillin authored her best finish of Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball career with a fourth place effort while competing in her first AUX campaign. She moved up six spots on the leaderboard during the final day of the season, collecting 1,230 leaderboard points, including 840 win points and 270 stat points. McQuillin tied for fourth in the league with 490 inning win points and secured three Game MVP awards. She recorded six outings with 100 or more leaderboard points, surpassing the 150-point mark three times. McQuillin was one of four players in the league with multiple 200-point performances and set a new Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball AUX single-season record by securing seven wins after leading the league with a 7-1 record. She appeared in a league-high 10 contests with four starts and fashioned a 3.00 earned run average with a league single-season record of 36 strikeouts over 37.1 innings. McQuillin received the MVP 2 distinction in the season finale against Team Alo after posting four strikeouts in a complete game performance while giving up two runs. She also secured a win in the first game of the June 25 doubleheader after allowing one earned run on one hit in 1.1 innings of relief. She was honored as MVP 3 selection on June 13 against Team Warren after giving up one run on four hits over 4.0 innings. McQuillin notched a season-high eight strikeouts over 4.0 innings against Team Mazon on June 22 while giving up one run on three hits in a winning effort. She tallied five strikeouts in a no-decision against Team Clark on June 17 and also had five strikeouts in the season debut against Team Leach on June 10, earning a win after allowing two runs on four hits in 4.0 innings.

2023 Championship Season: McQuillin finished in a three-way tie for 16th place with Megan Wiggins and Aleshia Ocasio after accruing 1,392 leaderboard points. She tied for sixth in the league with 160 MVP points, earning three Game MVP awards. McQuillin authored a 2.15 earned run average to earn a share of third place in the league. She posted a 3-1 record with a save over 29.1 innings, making 10 appearances with four starts. McQuillin ranked fifth in the league with 34 strikeouts and held opposing hitters to a league-low .172 batting average. She earned MVP 1 recognition in the season opener against Team McCleney after allowing one run on two hits with seven strikeouts over 4.0 innings in an 8-3 victory. McQuillin also collected MVP 1 plaudits after throwing a season-high 6.0 innings against Team Flippen on August 26, striking out a season-high eight hitters and allowing just two hits en route to a 4-0 victory. She threw 5.0 no-hit innings in relief against Team Zerkle on August 4 to claim MVP 2 accolades and earned a save against Team Davidson on August 20 by pitching the final inning of a 4-2 victory.

2022 Championship Season: McQuillin had a career-best 1,074 leaderboard points. She made 14 appearances in the circle, with three starts, and had a record of 4-3 with a save. McQuillin pitched 35.1 innings, ranking fourth in the league. She had 46 strikeouts, which ranked second in the league. McQuillin had three games with five strikeouts. From August 20-26, she threw a season-high 4.0 innings in three consecutive outings. McQuillin did not allow a run in four straight appearances from August 14-21, pitching 10.0 innings with three hits and 11 strikeouts. She accumulated a season-high 228 leaderboard points after throwing 4.0 scoreless innings and allowing just one hit against Team McCleney on August 21.

2021 Championship Season: McQuillin compiled 962 leaderboard points. She made eight appearances in the circle, including five starts, and had a record of 3-3 with a 3.92 earned run average. McQuillin was one of five pitchers to hurl a complete game. She ranked sixth in the league with 30.0 innings pitched and tied for third with 23 strikeouts. McQuillin allowed 17 earned runs on 29 hits.

2020 Championship Season: McQuillin accumulated 784 leaderboard points. She made 12 appearances in the circle, including two starts, and had a record of 1-2 with an 8.61 earned run average. McQuillin recorded her lone save of the season and had 19 strikeouts in 20.0 innings.

Other Professional Experience: McQuillin was the No. 6 overall selection in the 2019 NPF Draft by the Cleveland Comets. She threw 53.2 innings during her rookie season while compiling a 5-3 record with a 2.87 earned run average. Additionally, she played for the Hitachi Sundivas of the Japan Diamond League in 2022 and 2023.

International Experience: McQuillin helped Team Mexico qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She made one appearance at the Tokyo Olympics, throwing 1.2 innings against Canada with two strikeouts and two hits.

At Arizona: McQuillin played for the University of Arizona. She was a four-year letter winner who made 134 appearances, including 106 starts, from 2016-2019. McQuillin had an 80-32 career record for the Wildcats with five saves, a 1.95 earned run average, and 815 strikeouts over 697.1 innings. She finished her career with 77 complete games and 33 shutouts. McQuillin was a First-Team NFCA All-America selection as a senior and also earned Second-Team All-America notice from Fastpitch News and Third-Team honors from Softball America. She was a four-time All-Pac-12 Conference selection, including First-Team commendations as a junior and senior. McQuillin was a three-time NFCA All-Region pick. In 2018, she led NCAA Division I with 15 shutouts, becoming the first Arizona pitcher to accomplish the feat. McQuillin was one of 34 finalists for USA Softball Player of the Year in 2017. She ranks 10th in career earned run average and ninth in career victories in Wildcat softball history. McQuillin holds seventh place on the career strikeouts list and threw a five-inning no-hitter against New Mexico on February 11, 2018.