After spending her initial season in Mobile in a support role, Kelly Horne was elevated to a full-time assistant position in the summer of 2024 where she works with the outfield unit.
Already familiar with the South Alabama program, Horne joined the staff at South Alabama on September 1, 2023 when she was named the Director of Player Development. Horne assisted with on-campus recruiting and compiling a recruiting database, while also assisting with game and practice film, camp coordination, spring scouting, Name / Image / Likeness (NIL), and oversee all youth and high school teams attending home games.
During her first season as a member of the staff, South Alabama made its sixth NCAA Regional appearance, competing in the Gainesville Regional, while Olivia Lackie set the career marks in shutouts, and ended her Jaguar career holding the program marks in appearances (153) and shutouts, while ranking second in opponent batting average (.183), wins (80), saves (11), tied with Hannah Campbell in no-hitters (5), while ranking second complete games (77), innings pitched (774.2) and strikeouts. She also became the second player in program history to be named NFCA All-American (second team) and the the first four-time first-team all-SBC and four-time NFCA all=South region selection.
Mackenzie Brasher led the Sun Belt Conference and finished tied for 22nd nationally in stolen bases with 28. The Orange Beach, Ala., set program career marks in games played (231), starts (224) and stolen bases (87), while finishing her time in Mobile ranked second in hits (225), third in runs scored (144) and in the Top 10 in batting average. Gabby Stagner also set the new single-season home runs mark at South with 15
Horne came to South Alabama after lettering at Troy, where she was a three-time all-Sun Belt selection, earning first team honors in 2022 and second team accolades as a senior and as a sophomore. The Tallahassee, Fla., native ended her career starting 212 of the 232 games in which she played, and recorded a career .324 batting average to go along with 178 hits, 104 runs scored, 33 doubles, 32 home runs and 131 RBI. Her career .471 on-base percentage ranks second all-time for the Trojans.
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She finished the 2023 season with a .460 on-base percentage, and drew a team-leading 33 walks, which also ranked as third-most in the league.Â
As a junior, she earned first-team all-league honors as well as being selected to the NFCA South Region First Team. She led Troy in batting average (.353), home runs (14), RBI (28), slugging percentage (.729), on-base percentage (.530) and walks (44). She broke her own school record for on-base percentage, while her home runs ranked fifth, slugging percentage ranked third and her walks ranked second in Troy’s single-season record book. In the Sun Belt, Horne ranked ninth in batting average, second in OPS, fifth in runs scored, first in home runs and on-base percentage and fourth in total bases and slugging percentage. She finished the 2022 campaign with 10 multi-hit games and six multi-RBI games, and ranked 18th in the country in on-base percentage and fifth with 0.85 walks per game.
At the end of the 2022 season, Horne was a candidate for Sun Belt Conference Female Athlete of the Year where she was one of three finalists for the award based on athletic and academic achievements.
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As a sophomore, Horne batted .372 in 54 games, starting all 54 that season for the Trojans. She had 55 hits and 18 doubles, while also homering eight times and driving in 48, and earned first-team all-NFCA South Region honors in addition to her all-league accolades.
Horne earned her bachelor of science degree in hospitality, sport and tourism management with a concentration in sport management and a minor in global business from Troy in May 2021. She received her master’s degree in sport administration from her alma mater in May 2023.
