WEST DES MOINES, Iowa β The dream of donning the team USA jersey is now a reality for Alex Honnold.
The West Des Moines native is one of 16 collegiate softball players that were selected to join the USA Softball Women's National Team.
They're preparing to face off against the second ranked team in the world, Japan, in their upcoming All-Star Series.
"I got an email and, at first, it was just kind of on the down low for a while just because they hadn't actually released it," said Honnold. "It was quite exciting for me to see that and be able to know that I was one of the chosen ones."
Honnold got invited to try out for the team after a stellar junior campaign. This past season, she was an NFCA All-American, an SEC all-second team selection, a top 25 finalist for USA softball player of the year and her 2023 slugging percentage ranks fourth all-time in Mizzou program history.
Honnold's former softball coach at Valley Tom Bakey said he's so proud of what she has accomplished so far.
"That provided a lot of joy and happiness for us," Bakey said. "We've had a couple of other kids who have done really well here and won some awards nationally in Division II and Division III and now with Alex, it's the icing on the cake with you know, being a Division I All-American now getting the opportunity to go to Japan and represent the United States."
As Honnold gets ready for this exciting new experience, she said she's received some good advice that she'll be taking with her.
"Be yourself, take it all in and enjoy the experience, " said Honnold "Not everybody gets to do it, so you may only get once in a lifetime to be able to do it and just don't take it for granted."
The 2023 Japan All-Star Series is set to take place Aug. 4-7 across three different cities in Japan. That includes Azuma Stadium in Fukushima, Kizuma Stadium in Wakuni and Yokohama Stadium in Yokohama.