Montana Fouts, Haylie McCleney Make 2022 USA Softball Roster
The 18 softball players representing the United States at the 2022 World Games in Birmingham were announced on Friday morning, and two of the 18 have Alabama ties.
Former Alabama all-American and Olympian outfielder Haylie McCleney and current Alabama pitcher Montana Fouts were named to the roster. Within the 18, there are 15 active roster spots and three replacements. McCleney and Fouts are both on the 15-person roster.
McCleney is no stranger to playing for Team USA. She played on the silver-medal winning Olympic team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She has also won multiple gold and silver medals at the World Cup of Softball, Pan-American Games and World Championships for the United States dating back to 2014. The outfielder was a four-time all-American at Alabama from 2013-2016.
Fouts tried out for the U.S. Olympic team, but did not make the final roster. Now she will have the chance to represent her country at the World Games as one of five pitchers on the roster along with Monica Abbott, Ally Carda, Jailyn Ford, and Bubba Nickles.
The Alabama pitcher did play for the 2019 Junior Women’s National Team (JWNT) World Championship gold medal team. Fouts went 2-0 in the circle with 27 strikeouts and a 0.00 ERA in 13.1 innings pitched at the 2019 U-19 games.
Overall, the 2022 World Games roster has 11 former collegiate athletes, and seven current student athletes including Fouts and players from LSU, Florida, Washington, Oklahoma, Texas and UCLA.
The college softball season will kick off in February, and Alabama opens the season at the Candrea Classic in Arizona on Feb. 11. Fouts will pitch for Alabama during the entire season from February to June, and the World Games will take place in July.