Former Alabama softball player Haylie McCleney announces retirement from the sport

Former Alabama softball player Haylie McCleney has announced her retirement from the sport, doing so in a post on Instagram on Thursday afternoon.

There had been some hints that McCleney might be considering a different direction with her career in the recent past, like when she joined the SEC Network’s Rally Cap program earlier this spring. That’s potentially a role she will look to continue to expand in with her playing days now behind her.

“This post is surreal, strange, yet one of the most peaceful things I’ll ever be able to announce,” Haylie McCleney wrote. “I’m retiring. After playing this game for the last 25 years, across 10+ countries, & basically all the United States… This season at Athletes Unlimited will be my last.”

McCleney had played for Athletes Unlimited, as well as the USA softball teams.

She made appearances on the 2020 USA Olympic softball team that claimed a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Prior to that, she was a superstar at Alabama.

Haylie McCleney started a whopping 188 games for the Crimson Tide and finished with a .441 batting average, boasting 227 hits and 121 RBI, with a slugging percentage of .717. She still holds the Alabama records in career batting average, on-base percentage (.569) and triples (16).

All of that makes her uniquely qualified to comment on the sport professionally if that’s the route she chooses.

She was on Rally Cap with Dari Nowkhah and David Dellucci, a program that airs occasionally during baseball and softball season and highlights both sports in the SEC.

Haylie McCleney issued a lot of thanks and promised the best is yet to come.

“I want to thank my parents and my brothers for giving me everything I ever needed to chase my dreams,” she said. “My competitiveness & selflessness is a product of them. My incredible partner (Kylee Hanson) for sacrificing so much for our little family and supporting me every step of the way, through the good and the bad. I never would have made it without it.

“It’s been one heck of a ride & I wouldn’t change a thing. As always, the best is yet to come & I couldn’t be more excited for this next chapter.”