Montana Fouts facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Montana Fouts |
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| Talons – No. 14 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born: June 4, 2000 Charleston, West Virginia |
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Montana Fay Fouts, born on June 4, 2000, is an amazing American professional softball pitcher. She plays for the Talons team in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL). Montana is also a proud member of the United States women's national softball team. She was a four-time All-American pitcher while playing for the University of Alabama. Montana is famous for throwing a perfect game against UCLA in the 2021 Women's College World Series.
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Early Life and High School Softball
Montana Fay Fouts was born in Charleston, West Virginia. When she was 10, she moved to Grayson, Kentucky, with her mom. Her dad would drive about 80 miles to watch her high school games.
Montana went to East Carter High School. She was named Kentucky's Miss Softball. She also won the Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year award for softball three times. This was in 2016, 2017, and 2018.
Montana holds a Kentucky high school record for pitchers. Her ERA (earned run average) was super low at 0.16. She also set a state record for perfect games in one season with 9. She had 14 no-hitters that year too. In her whole high school career, Montana had 111 wins. She also had 1,483 strikeouts, 77 shutouts, 25 no-hitters, and 15 perfect games.
College Softball Career
Montana Fouts decided to play for the University of Alabama in 2014. This was when she was still a freshman in high school.
Freshman Year Success
Montana played her first game for Alabama on February 8, 2019. It was against Troy. She got nine strikeouts and only allowed one run. In her first year, she won 21 games and lost 6. Her ERA was 1.39, and she had 193 strikeouts.
Montana helped the Alabama softball team reach the 2019 Women's College World Series. She pitched shutouts against Arizona and Oklahoma. Alabama eventually lost to Oklahoma in the semifinals. Montana was named the SEC Freshman of the Year for 2019. She was also on the 2019 SEC All-Freshman team.
In August 2019, Montana was invited to try out for the United States women's national softball team. This team was getting ready for the 2020 Summer Olympics. However, she did not make the final team.
Sophomore Year Challenges
The 2020 softball season was cut short because of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this season, Montana had 3 wins and 3 losses. Her ERA was 2.04, and she had 41 strikeouts.
Junior Year Highlights
In her junior year, during the 2021 season, Montana had an amazing record of 27 wins and 4 losses. Her ERA was 1.61, and she had 349 strikeouts. She led Alabama to win their first SEC tournament championship since 2012. They beat Florida 4–0 in the final game on May 15, 2021. Montana was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player (MVP). She set a new tournament record with 39 strikeouts over three days.
In the 2021 Women's College World Series, Montana helped Alabama win 5–1 against Arizona. She had a career-high 16 strikeouts in that game. Montana then pitched the sixth perfect game in Women's College World Series history. This was the first perfect game since Courtney Blades did it in 2000. It was a 6–0 victory over UCLA.
Later in the semifinals against Florida State, Alabama lost 8–5. Montana and her teammate Bailey Hemphill were named to the 2021 Women's College World Series All-Tournament Team. Montana also won several awards that year. These included the 2021 NFCA National Pitcher of the Year and the 2021 SEC Pitcher of the Year.
Senior Year Achievements
Montana finished her bachelor's degree in psychology in December 2021. She then started studying hospitality management in graduate school.
During her senior year in 2022, Montana played in 39 games and started 36 of them. She had 24 wins and 8 losses, with a 2.10 ERA and 277 strikeouts. She won the SEC Pitcher of the Week award four times. This was more than any other player in the conference. She also led the SEC in strikeouts. After the season, Montana was a finalist for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award. She was also named a second-team All-American.
Redshirt Senior Year and College Records
In her redshirt senior year during the 2023 season, Montana had 25 wins and 11 losses. Her ERA was 1.49, and she had 323 strikeouts. After this season, she was named Softball America Pitcher of the Year.
Montana finished her college softball career with amazing records for the Crimson Tide. She is second in program history for strikeouts (1,181). She is third for shutouts (35) and fourth for wins (100). She is also fourth for complete games (89) and fifth for ERA (1.66).
In 2023, Montana Fouts won the Honda Sports Award for softball. She was the first Alabama player to ever win this special award.
Professional Softball Career
On April 17, 2023, Montana Fouts was picked in the sixth round of the 2023 WPF draft. She was the 23rd player chosen overall by the Smash It Sports Vipers.
On January 29, 2025, Montana was drafted by the Talons in the first-ever Athletes Unlimited Softball League draft. She was the 35th player picked overall in the ninth round. On June 7, 2025, in the first game of the season, Montana got the first strikeout in AUSL history. She struck out Bubba Nickles-Camarena.
During the 2025 AUSL season, she started six games. She had 4 wins and 2 losses, with a 2.21 ERA and 33 strikeouts. On July 27, 2025, Montana pitched a complete game shutout in the championship series. This helped the Talons win the first-ever AUSL championship!
Playing for Team USA
In July 2022, Montana Fouts played for the United States women's national softball team. This was at the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama. She helped the USA team win the gold medal game against Japan.
On August 31, 2023, Montana was again chosen to be on the United States national team. This time it was for the 2023 Pan American Games.
Career Statistics
Here are some of Montana Fouts' college softball statistics:
| YEAR | ERA | W–L | IP | SO | BB | H | R |
| 2019 | 1.39 | 21–6 | 181.2 | 193 | 57 | 115 | 46 |
| 2020 | 2.04 | 3–3 | 37.2 | 41 | 22 | 38 | 16 |
| 2021 | 1.61 | 27–4 | 213.1 | 349 | 49 | 143 | 59 |
| TOTALS | 1.68 | 51–13 | 431.5 | 583 | 128 | 280 | 121 |
