MLB RBI Catcher Marley Jackson Wins Jennie Finch Empowerment Award
Marley Jackson, a catcher and member of the Nationals NIKE RBI team, has been awarded this year's recipient of the 2025 Jennie Finch Empowerment Award.
The award is given to chosen athletes who have demonstrated the six guiding principles in Finch's namesake: leadership, motivation, commitment, dedication, humility, and integrity.
This is the seventh year that the award has been bestowed and presented by sponsor Arm & Hammer. The award is accompanied by a $10,000 scholarship. Four scholarships are given out over the course of the year at Major League Baseball Develops events, including the Breakthrough Series, Jennie Finch Classic during All-Star week, the Elite Development Invitational and RBI World Series.
Finch made an appearance at the Elite Development Invitational in Kansas City, Mo., on June 24 to surprise Jackson with the news that she had won the award.
Finch said, “The Jennie Finch Empowerment Award is so much more than softball. It’s about your core values on and off the field, and when your name comes up, leadership and commitment stand out the most.”
Jackson embodies these qualities outlined in the award description each and every day. She has maintained a 4.7 GPA at Thomas Edison High School in Alexandria, Va., as well as she volunteers and coaches for YBA PLAY – the Nationals Youth Academy, where girls and boys learn more about softball and baseball.
But her leadership is felt on the field by her teammates and opponents alike.
Teammate Alex Nehrer said, "She’s charismatic, she brings a lot of energy to the field, she’s really just a great person in general. She’s uplifting. If you ever made an error or anything, she would definitely bring you back up. She’s a great teammate to have.”
Even her opponents are complimentary of Jackson, as Lauren Willenbucher, who recently joined the league, stated, "Meeting Marley was one of the best things. She’s really changed my outlook on the game and the positivity that comes from it.”
Jackson and the other 2025 recipients will be honored during the MLB World Series later this year.
The award and tournaments are another example of the crossover and tie into softball from the MLB.
However, Finch has long been an ambassador of softball in baseball spaces as she has appeared in the MLB All-Star Celebrity Game since 2004 when Finch struck out home run savant Albert Pujols from the St. Louis Cardinals.
Most recently, Finch signed on with Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) as an advisor to the league alongside its partnership with the MLB.
Allison Smith is an expert in leadership and organizational behavior in collegiate and professional women’s sports. Smith is a professor (Georgia State University), researcher, and writer. Smith holds a Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee in Kinesiology and Sport Studies. Smith’s research centers on combatting the underrepresentation of women leaders in sport, lack of organizational structure for work life integration for sport employees, and lack of programming and oversight for preparing athletes to transition to life after sport. Since graduating with a bachelor’s in journalism in 2011, Smith has sought opportunities to write about sports as a contributing writer focused on the growth of women’s collegiate, Olympic, and professional sports in this new age and movement for multiple outlets including Athletic Director U, and now Forbes.com. As a former Division I and II pitcher and Division III pitching coach Smith will bring unique insight and expertise to Softball on SI.
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