How Wichita State star Sydney McKinney earned her invite to join Team USA softball

There isn’t much that Sydney McKinney hasn’t accomplished as a softball player at Wichita State.

With little else to prove at the college level, the two-time All-American will cross off a top item on her softball bucket list later this summer when she will represent her country at the highest level on a foreign trip against its biggest rival.

McKinney was officially added to Team USA’s roster on Wednesday for the upcoming Japan All-Star Series, where the two top-ranked national teams in the world will play a three-game series Aug. 6-8 in Fukushima and Yokohama, Japan.

It’s a prestigious honor for McKinney, a Norborne, Mo. native and senior-to-be who is one of just 15 players selected to represent the Stars and Stripes. When she leaves for Japan at the end of this month, McKinney will become the first Wichita State player ever to play for Team USA.

“To play on Team USA, that’s a dream come true,” McKinney said. “And I’m so proud to be representing Wichita State and putting them on the map.”

McKinney has earned a reputation as one of, if not the best contact hitter in college softball. The star shortstop led the country in batting average (.522) this past season and became WSU’s all-time hits leader, single-season hits leader and single-season runs leader in the process of earning All-American honors again and Top-10 finalist honors for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year.

But even with those gaudy stats, players outside of the power-conference structure in college softball are routinely overlooked. Of the 15 players headed to Japan on Team USA, only McKinney and UCF’s Jada Cody are from teams outside of the Pac-12, Big 12, SEC and ACC.

It’s not a coincidence that McKinney earned an invitation after she was superb for Triple Crown Colorado in the team’s two victories over Team USA at the Canada Cup in late June. McKinney finished with a .429 batting average in eight games against top competition and left an impression on Team USA coach Heather Tarr, who is also the head coach at Washington.

“Coach Tarr talked to me and said she wants to reward players who are proving themselves and I had a good week at the Canada Cup, so that was really cool,” McKinney said. “In the past, Team USA has been pretty unattainable for mid-majors, so it’s really cool that they’re giving me a shot.”

The decision was a no-brainer to Tarr.

“Adding an athlete like McKinney allows us to grow the pool of great athletes for USA Softball,” Tarr told The Eagle. “We are excited to have her with us as we continue our pursuit of seeing how good we can get.”

McKinney will leave for the foreign trip later this month, then Team USA will participate in a number of practice sessions from August 2-5. The first game of the series will be 5 a.m. Central time on Saturday, August 6, followed by the second game at midnight Central time on Sunday, August 7 with the series finale at 5 a.m. Central time on Monday, August 8.

Live stats and streaming options will be announced at a later date by USA Softball.