Eatonville’s Hailey Rath competes in national all-star game

The accolades keep coming for Eatonville High school's Hailey Rath.

Earlier this year for fastpitch she was named the 1A Evergreen Conference Player of the Year, named Scorebook Live’s 1A Senior Athlete of the Year, led the entire state for the second year in a row in home runs, received the Tacoma Athletic Commission’s Clint Names Multi-Sport Excellence Award scholarship, broke many school records and was named the Eatonville High School Senior Athlete of the Year.

Rath can now add being an Alliance Fastpitch All-Star to that long list of accomplishments.

Rath was selected as one of 40 other girls from across the country to play in the 2022 Alliance Fastpitch/Under Armour All-Star Game that took place in Kokomo, Indiana, July 24.

“When my coach called me and told me I was selected, I was on the bus to go to our graduation practice, and I was in awe,” Rath said. “It was a blessing to be named one of the top softball players in the nation.

“I couldn’t be more thankful than I am now,” she added. “It truly is a blessing to be where I am today.”

The game was televised on ESPNU so Rath was on the big stage for the entire nation to see.

Rath had a very large cheering section rooting her on in Indiana. Her club team, the Ai Bandits were also there playing in a tournament, so her teammates attended and cheered her on.

“It was amazing having all of my teammates there supporting me, and I know that the Bandits were the loudest ones there,” she said. “My teammates mean the world to me and [I’m] thankful to call them family! I am also blessed to have all the fans back at home cheering me on!”

With 20 players on each team, the coaches chose to bat their entire roster, so Rath was only given one at-bat and played a couple of innings in the field.

“My experience this weekend was definitely something I will always remember,” she said. “It was fun meeting all the other great senior softball players in the nation.”

This game was the culmination of Rath’s high school/club team career as she will move on and play at Western Washington University next season.

For more information about the 2022 Alliance Fastpitch/Under Armour All-Star Game, visit https://thealliancefastpitch.com/2022-all-stars/.