Bailey Marie Hemphill (born February 17, 1998) is a former American

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

player for the

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the Na ...

. She currently holds the

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

record for the most career home runs hit with 64, as well as the SEC record for most career walks with 237.

Early life

Hemphill attended St. Thomas More High School in

Lafayette, Louisiana Lafayette ( , ) is the most populous city in and parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, Lafayette Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located along the Vermilion River (Louisiana), Vermilion River. It is Louisiana's List of municipaliti ...

, where she was a two time NFCA High School All-American and broke her school's all-time career home run record after two seasons. She was named Louisiana's Miss Softball her senior year in 2016.

College career

Freshman season

During her first career at-bat on February 10, 2017, Hemphill hit a three-run home run against

Towson Towson () is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 59,533 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is t ...

in her Alabama debut. She finished the 2017 season with a .309 batting average and 47 hits. In addition, Hemphill led the team with 9 home runs, 41 RBIs, and 57 walks and was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team. In the field, Hemphill mainly played

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and occasionally

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

, but for the majority of games she was used as a

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. Unlike other players in a team's lineup, they generally only play as an offensive player and usually do not play defense as ...

. During a match against

Ole Miss OLE, Ole or Olé may refer to: * Olé, a cheering expression used in Spain * Ole (name), a male given name, includes a list of people named Ole * Overhead lines equipment, used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains Co ...

on May 5, 2017, Hemphill hit a solo home run and had an early celebration with her team. However, she was tagged and called out due to Hemphill not touching home plate (she had jumped over the plate to her team in her excitement at the home run). The game ended with an Ole Miss victory, 5–4.

Sophomore year

In the 2018 season, Hemphill had a .333 batting average with 41 hits, 48 RBIs, and 13 home runs. She missed two weeks of the season due to a foot injury, only starting 49 of 56 games. Hemphill primarily played first base her sophomore season.

Junior Year

During her junior year, Hemphill led Alabama with a .372 batting average and 72 hits and was either a first baseman or a designated hitter. She set a single-season school record with 26 home runs (tying the SEC record) and 84 RBIs (leading the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

). She helped Alabama reach their first

Women's College World Series The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States and is held annually in Oklahoma City, OK. The event is held at Devon Park (stadium), Devon Park loca ...

since 2016, where she hit her record-breaking 26th home run on June 1, 2019, in a 15–3 victory against

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

that kept them alive in the loser's bracket. Alabama eventually reached the tournament semi-finals and were eliminated by

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, and Hemphill made the 2019 Women's College World Series All-Tournament team. Following the 2019 season, Hemphill was named an NFCA Second Team All-American and First Team All-SEC.

Senior Year

In a 2020 season shortened by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Hemphill batted .280 and recorded 14 hits, 10 RBIs, and 4 homeruns in 22 games. She was nominated for the

NCAA Woman of the Year Award The NCAA Woman of the Year Award was created to honor senior female student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate career in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership. Each year ...

in July 2020.

Redshirt senior year

Hemphill chose to return for her fifth year of eligibility in 2021, and finished the season leading the team with a .419 batting average, 14 home runs, 57 RBIs, 57 walks, a .581 on-base percentage, and a .770 slugging percentage. Due to the departure of veteran catcher Reagan Dykes, Hemphill played most games as the starting catcher for Alabama. On May 14, she hit her 61st home run against

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

in the SEC tournament semi-finals to become the Alabama all-time career home run leader. Hemphill helped Alabama win their first SEC Tournament Championship since 2012 after the team defeated

on May 15, recording three home runs in the tournament. In the opening round of the

2021 Women's College World Series The 2021 NCAA Division I softball tournament was held from May 21 through June 10, 2021 as the final part of the 2021 NCAA Division I softball season. 31 teams were awarded automatic bids as champions of their conferences after the Ivy League op ...

on June 3, against

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, Hemphill hit a solo home run to help Alabama win 5–1 and advance to the second round of the tournament. On June 6, Hemphill recorded her 237th career walk in the first match of the Women's College World Series semi-finals, against

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

, making her the SEC record-holder for most career walks. A day later, she hit a two-run homer against Florida State in the second semi-final game, but Alabama eventually lost the game 8–5 and was thus eliminated. At the end of the tournament, Hemphill was named onto the 2021 Women's College World Series All-Tournament Team. Hemphill finished the 2021 season as an NFCA First-Team All American, First Team All-SEC player, the SEC Player of the Year, and a finalist for the

USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year The USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year is an award given by USA Softball to the best college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United St ...

award.

Statistics

External links

*
Alabama Crimson Tide bio

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hemphill, Bailey 1998 births Softball players from Louisiana Alabama Crimson Tide softball players Softball players American softball players Living people Sportspeople from Lafayette, Louisiana