FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 23, 2018

Haylie McCleney named a finalist for the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Sportswoman of the Year

OKLAHOMA CITY – USA Softball Women’s National Team (WNT) centerfielder Haylie McCleney (Morris, Ala.) has been selected as a finalist for the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Sportswomen of the Year award in the team sport category, the Women’s Sports Foundation announced today. A member of the USA Softball WNT since 2014, McCleney was selected based on her achievements between August 1, 2017 and June 30, 3018. Fans are invited to vote for Haylie for Sportswoman of the Year at http://sportswomanoftheyear.com/.

McCleney won Gold with the USA Softball WNT at the Pan American Championship, which was held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. During the 10-day span, McCleney was simply unstoppable at the plate and contributed to Team USA’s Gold Medal finish. Pacing the U.S. offense with a team-high .613 (19-for-31) batting average, McCleney posted five RBI and scored 17 runs as the Red, White and Blue outscored opponents 117-15, a feat accomplished by no other team. Amassing a .839 slugging percentage, McCleney was also walked seven times as the leadoff hitter, setting the tone for the lineup right from the start in each contest.

McCleney also won silver with Team USA at the 2017 World Cup of Softball, she hit .500 (10-for-20) with one home run, seven RBI and eight runs scored. Amassing a .577 on-base percentage, the lefty also had two stolen bases and recorded 13 total bases at the event.

The Sportswoman of the Year award winners will be determined by a combination of a public vote (50%) and the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Awards Committee’s vote (50%). The winners will be the two athletes – one individual sport finalist and one team sport finalist – who receive the highest combined share of a public vote and the Awards Committee vote.

Voting has already begun, and fans can visit http://sportswomanoftheyear.com/ to cast their vote for the McCleney. Fan voting will conclude on August 3 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

The winner in each category will be invited to attend the Annual Salute to Women in Sports Awards Gala on Wednesday, October 17 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City, where they will accept their awards.

Past USA Softball Women’s National Team members who have won the Women’s Sports Foundation Sportswomen of the Year award include Lisa Fernandez (1994), Cat Osterman (2005), Monica Abbott (2007), and Jessica Mendoza (2008).

About USA Softball
USA Softball is a 501(c)(3) not-for profit organization headquartered in Oklahoma City, Okla., and is designated as the National Governing Body (NGB) of Softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. One of the nation’s largest sports organizations, USA Softball sanctions competition in every state through a network of 69 local associations and has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 150,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than 2 million. USA Softball is dedicated to providing people of all ages the opportunity to play the game they love at a variety of levels by offering recreational, league, tournament and competitive play for fast pitch, slow pitch and modified pitch. USA Softball annually conducts thousands of tournaments throughout the country including over 100 National Championships. The USA Softball umpire program is among the nation’s largest and are widely known as the best trained umpires in the game. As the NGB for the sport of softball, USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting the six USA Softball National Teams that compete in events such as the Olympics, Pan American Games, World Championships and other international and domestic events. For more information on USA Softball, including its founding and history as the Amateur Softball Association of America (ASA), please visit, www.USASoftball.com<http://www.usasoftball.com/>.


About Women’s Sports Foundation

The Women’s Sports Foundation is a powerful voice, catalyst and convener dedicated to ensuring all girls have equal access to sports and physical activity and the tremendous life-long benefits they provide. Founded by Billie Jean King in 1974, we seek to strengthen and expand opportunities for all girls and women to participate in all sports at all levels through research, advocacy, community impact and a wide variety of collaborative partnerships. The Women’s Sports Foundation has relationships with more than 1,000 of the world’s elite female athletes and has positively shaped the lives of more than 3 million youth, high school and collegiate student-athletes. To learn more about the Women’s Sports Foundation, please visit www.WomensSportsFoundation.org<http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/> or follow us at @WomensSportsFdn<https://twitter.com/WomensSportsFdn> and www.facebook.com/WomensSportsFoundation<http://www.facebook.com/WomensSportsFoundation>.

[cid:900DE863-E538-4199-8985-A48E2944CFF7]
Codi Warren I Managing Director of Communications
USA Softball
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