Junior Bailey Hemphill and freshman Montana Fouts are among 26 finalists for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, the organization announced Wednesday.
Alabama is one of seven teams with multiple finalists on the list, along with Arizona, Florida, Florida State, Oklahoma, UCLA and Washington. Eight of the 26 hail from the Southeastern Conference, the most of any conference.
Hemphill is ranked in the top five nationally in home runs (20) and RBIs (64). She is batting .350 with a team-leading 49 hits across 140 at-bats. Her home run total is already the third-highest in Alabama single-season history and her RBI total ranks seventh.
Fouts, who was recently named a top-25 finalist for NFCA Freshman of the Year, leads the SEC and is sixth nationally with an 0.97 ERA. She owns a 13-1 record and four saves across 19 appearances and 15 starts, holding opponents to 14 earned runs over 101.0 innings while striking out 125.
The list of 26 will be narrowed to 10 on May 8 and then to three on May 22. The 2019 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will be revealed May 28 prior to the start of the Women’s College World Series.
