Kelsey Stewart’s season may not be over just yet.
Two days after Florida won its first national championship in program history, the Amateur Softball Association announced that Stewart and former Gators softball player Michelle Moultrie accepted invitations to participate in the USA Softball Women’s National Team Selection Camp.
The four-day camp, which began Monday in Lynchburg, Va., will be followed by three exhibition games. The national team will be announced on June 22.
Stewart, the third UF player in program history selected to tryout for the national team, is coming off a record-breaking sophomore season.
In 2014, the Wichita, Kan., native set UF’s single-season record with 102 hits and tied her program-best 36 stolen bases. Stewart also started the season by reaching base in 41 consecutive games, shattering Moultrie’s program-best mark of 37 set in 2011.
Stewart also holds Florida’s career-best batting average with a .408 clip at the plate through her first two years.
Florida’s leadoff hitter also led the Gators in the majority of its offensive stats in 2014, including batting average (.438), hits (102), runs (68), stolen bases (36), triples (six) and doubles (14, tied with Aubree Munro) en route to first-team All-America honors.
Stewart only improved in the postseason, posting a .471 batting average with two RBIs and five runs in the Women’s College World Series alone.
“We made our adjustments and did our thing,” Stewart said. “We never quit until there are 3 outs in the inning. We never give up.”
The Jacksonville native still holds Florida’s single-season records with a .519 on-base percentage and .443 batting clip . When she graduated from UF in 2012, Moultrie held Florida’s career-best rank in batting average (.385) and season-high marks in hits (101) and stolen bases (31) before Stewart topped those marks in her first two years on campus.
Other notable players attending the selection camp include Florida State’s Lacey Waldrop, the 2014 USA Softball National Player of the Year whose 1.13 ERA was the third best in the country; Alabama outfielder Haylie McCleney, who paced the Southeastern Conference in batting average (.444), on-base percentage (.556) and runs (70); and Oregon pitcher Cheridan Hawkins, a southpaw who led the Ducks with a 1.66 ERA and recorded 330 strikeouts in 249.1 innings.
Follow Jordan McPherson on Twitter @J_McPherson1126
Kelsey Stewart bats during Florida's 7-6 win against Auburn on April 5 at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. Stewart finished her sophomore season with a team-best .438 batting average while setting UF's single-season record for hits (102) and tying her record for stolen bases (36).
