Jenny Dalton-Hill (born March 5, 1974) is an American former collegiate

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 player and current sports commentator and general manager for the Bandits for the inaugural 2025 season of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL). She played for the

Arizona Wildcats The Arizona Wildcats are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Arizona, located in Tucson, Arizona, Tucson. The Wildcats compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Divis ...

from 1993 to 1996 where she won three

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 ...

championships (1993, 1994, 1996). Having also played baseball, Dalton-Hill is a former member of the

Colorado Silver Bullets The Colorado Silver Bullets were an all-female professional baseball team that played in the United States from 1994 to 1997. The Bullets were the first such team since the folding of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in 1954. ...

and United States women's national baseball team, earning a bronze medal at the 2010 Women's Baseball World Cup. She holds the career

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

and

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

records in

RBIs A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

. She is the first and one of nine

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. ...

players to hit .400 with 200 RBIs, 50

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...

and an .800

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at-bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at-bats for a given player, an ...

in her career.

Career

Arizona Wildcats

Dalton-Hill began her career in 1993 as an All-

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

conference selection with a .318

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

for her freshman year. That season the Wildcats made the WCWS and Dalton got a hit in her first at-bat at the tournament, helping defeat the ULL Ragin’ Cajuns on May 29. When the team made the finals vs. rival the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

, Dalton earned her first national championship (the school's second overall) on May 31, despite being

shut out Shut Out may refer to: * Shutout In team sports, a shutout (North American English, US) or clean sheet (Commonwealth English, UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable ...

at the plate by

Lisa Fernandez Lisa Maria Fernandez (born February 22, 1971) is an American former softball player and current associate head coach at UCLA Bruins softball, UCLA. She is also the general manager of the Talons for the inaugural 2025 season of the Athletes Unlim ...

with only a

base on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...

to her credit. In her sophomore season, Dalton-Hill was named First Team All-Pac-10 and

. She posted the second-best RBIs and

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

s (led the conference) totals in school history; both still rank top-10. Her RBI total was also second all-time for an

season and is still a top-10 record. Her walks total also led the conference and she had a career-best 89 hits. Returning to the WCWS for a second series, Dalton-Hill started the tournament by driving in two runs to help best the

UIC Flames The UIC Flames are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Chicago, located in Chicago, Illinois, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association ...

on May 26. The next game vs. the

Fresno State Bulldogs The Fresno State Bulldogs are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent California State University, Fresno (commonly referred to as Fresno State). The university is a member of NCAA Division I's Mountain West Conference (MW). It was a ...

she was perfect at the plate (3/3). Against rival

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

in the semifinals, she hit a three-run home run and had two walks on May 29 to reach the championship. Dalton-Hill and teammates won the title 4-0 over the

Cal State Northridge Matadors The Cal State Northridge Matadors (branded as the CSUN Matadors) are the athletic teams that represent California State University, Northridge in Northridge, Los Angeles, California. The Matadors field 17 teams in nineteen sports. The Matadors ...

on May 30. Dalton-Hill had an RBI but again was shut out at the plate. She still eas named to the All-Tournament Team for her .625 (5/8), 5 RBIs, home run and three walks effort. Dalton-Hill again achieved First-Team All-Pac-10 and All-American honors. She broke school season records for walks and runs scored. The walks too led the conference and both stats led the NCAA for the year. Dalton-Hill remains the season standard for school, conference and

runs scored all-time. Her home runs (career best) and RBI totals were and are top-5 school and top-10

season records. February 18, 1995, Dalton-Hill hit three home runs vs. the

Illinois State Redbirds The Illinois State Redbirds are the athletic teams that represent Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. Teams play at the NCAA Division I level ( FCS in football). Most teams compete in the Missouri Valley Conference except football (M ...

to tie the school and then NCAA single game record. Later that year on April 28 she performed the feat again over the

Oregon State Beavers The Oregon State Beavers are the sport, athletic teams that represent Oregon State University, located in Corvallis, Oregon. The Beavers compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Division I ...

to become the first player with multiple three-home-run games and the only one to do it in the same year. Prior to the NCAA tournament, Dalton-Hill also became just the second player, after teammate Laura Espinoza, to cross both the 50-home-run and 200 RBIs benchmark. She was also the first of select players to make the RBI club in only three seasons. At the WCWS in the Wildcats' game two, she hit a three-run homer to beat the

Cal State Fullerton Titans The Cal State Fullerton Titans (also known as CSUF or Fullerton Titans) are the sport, athletic teams that represent California State University, Fullerton. The Titans are a member of the NCAA Division I level. The Titans compete within the Big W ...

on May 26 and moved to the semifinals where she drove in the eventual game-winning run in the first inning vs. the

UNLV Rebels The UNLV Rebels are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). The Rebels compete in the NCAA Division I (NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Footb ...

on May 28. In the finale, the Wildcats lost 4–2 on May 29 vs.

and Dalton-Hill again suffered a batting shutout. The title was later vacated by the NCAA for rules violation. For her final season, Dalton-Hill earned her third consecutive First Team conference and NCAA citations. In addition, she was named Pac-10

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year. In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is held on b ...

and became the first player to hold the Triple Crown of the best average, RBIs (both were career highs) and home run totals in a single season for the conference. Dalton-Hill also earned the

Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in t ...

for "Softball Player of The Year." The Wildcat broke the school record for walks and continues to hold the distinction. Her season average, RBIs, home runs and career-best

were and are top-10 school records. Along with her Triple Crown, she also led the NCAA in RBIs, home runs, walks and runs scored. Finally, the RBIs (second best), home runs and runs scored were and are top-10 all-time NCAA season records. On March 1, 1996, Dalton-Hill tallied 8 RBIs in a single game vs. the Tennessee Lady Vols for a career high. She drove in her 316th career RBI in grand slam fashion off Shawn Starling of the

Troy Trojans The Troy Trojans are the sports teams of Troy University. They began playing in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's Division I (NCAA), Division I-A in 2001 in sports, 2001, became a American football, football only member of the ...

on May 17, eclipsing former teammate Laura Espinoza for the record. On May 26 at the WCWS, Dalton-Hill was perfect (3/3) with two RBIs vs.

Iowa Hawkeyes The Iowa Hawkeyes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. The Hawkeyes have varsity teams in 20 sports, 7 for men and 13 for women; The teams participate in Division I of the Nati ...

. Making her fourth finals appearance in a row on May 27, Dalton-Hill broke through her slump by hitting a three-run home run in the first inning to eventually best the

Washington Huskies The Washington Huskies are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) N ...

6–4 for her third championship. She was later named All-Tournament and

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

of the series. When she left the

, she was and is still tops in career RBIs, walks and runs. She placed second in average, hits, home runs, doubles and slugging, those each now rank top-10 all-time, except the hits. Dalton-Hill also held every career crown in the now

that she did for Arizona, of which she still does for the RBIs and runs. She now sits in the top-10 for every conference career offense category that she is not atop, excluding hits and doubles. For the

career records, Dalton-Hill again led in RBIs, walks, runs scored and slugging percentage, as well as amassing the second-most home runs behind teammate Laura Espinoza. She still claims the most RBIs and ranks top-10 in runs (2nd) and home runs (tied 10th) all-time.

Baseball

In 1996, she played for the Colorado Silver Bullets in what would prove to be their final season. Competing at the 2010 Women's World Cup of Baseball, she shared duties at first base with former Arizona teammate Laura Espinoza. In 2012, Dalton served as a coach for the United States national women's team.

Athletes Unlimited

In November 2024, Athletes Unlimited hired Dalton-Hill as the general manager for team Bandits in their inaugural season of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL).

Personal life

Dalton-Hill was eligible to play for

Team USA The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

in the

1996 Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

but opted to pursue other endeavors. She volunteered to coach for the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

in 1997 where they won their 5th national title. She would later relocate and join the

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30, ...

program for two years as an Assistant Coach. In 2001, Dalton-Hill was inducted into the Wildcats Hall of Fame. As she had been a member of the baseball

in 1997, Dalton reemerged from retirement in 2010 to partake in the USA Baseball Women's National Team who won the bronze at the 2010 Women's Baseball World Cup. She currently coaches high school softball in

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, is a staff member of women's

baseball and is incumbent on the USA Board of Directors for softball. Dalton-Hill is married to Marc Hill and has three children, Dalton, Brookelyn and Cogan. When Glendale High School (Dalton's alma mater) built their softball field in 2005, they named it Dalton Field in her honor. They also retired her number. She is also a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(LDS Church). Dalton-Hill frequently offers color commentary for the

Softball Tournament and 7 Innings Podcast.

Statistics

Awards and honors

*1996 Medal of Honor (Pac-10) *1996

(softball) *2016 All-Century Softball Team (

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dalton, Jenny 1974 births Living people Arizona Wildcats softball players Baseball players from Glendale, California American women baseball players Latter Day Saints from California Softball players from California Women's College World Series Most Outstanding Player Award winners