Kelly Barnhill

Kelly Barnhill is from Marietta, Georgia; she tried out many sports in her youth, beginning with soccer. She would eventually drop soccer in favor of softball, citing that there was "way too much running" in soccer. Barnhill attended Pope High School in Marietta, where she recorded 22 no-hitters. In October 2014, during her senior year of high school, Barnhill committed to the University of Florida.

Barnhill's high school softball play was recognized—in 2015, she was named the Georgia Gatorade Player of the Year and the USA Today Softball Player of the Year.

2016

Barnhill played her freshman season for the Florida Gators in 2016. During the year, she was twice named the SEC Freshman of the Week. She was named to the 2016 SEC First Year Academic Honor Roll, as well as the 2016 SEC All-Freshman Team. She finished her freshman season with a 15-1 record, as well as 167 strikeouts and an opponents' batting average of .140 in 108.1 innings pitched.

2017

In 2017, Barnhill led the NCAA in earned run average (ERA) and strikeouts per seven innings (0.51 and 13.0, respectively). Those statistics were records among University of Florida pitchers; Barnhill set additional school records in lowest opponent batting average (.121), most combined shutouts (10), most strikeouts looking (100) and lowest stolen base percentage (.333). She was named a First Team All-SEC player. Heading into the SEC Tournament, the Gators were ranked No. 1 in the nation, and Barnhill was named the SEC Pitcher of the Year.

Her ERA during the season was noted by sports outlets, espnW commented in April that "the company she keeps in ERA at the moment is the context by which it is clear that she is the nation's best pitcher." espnW later named her their Softball Player of the Year, describing her as "NCAA softball's most statistically dominant pitching presence in a decade." She was also named the USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year in 2017. On July 12, 2017, she was awarded the ESPY Award for Best Female College Athlete, for the 2017 season. She was the first player in Florida's softball program history to win an ESPY award.

Barnhill has represented Team USA since 2015, when she was a member of the USA Junior Women's national softball team. That year she was a gold medalist at the 2015 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Junior Women's Softball World Championship. During that competition, Barnhill led the U.S. pitching staff with a 6-0 record, 51 strikeouts and a 0.54 ERA in 26 innings pitched.

Barnhill then represented the USA Women's national softball team at the 2016 World Cup of Softball, and earned a silver medal. At the 2016 WBSC Women's Softball World Championship, Barnhill was a gold medalist, pitching four innings with four strikeouts and two hits allowed.