Personal: Bates is a member of Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball’s Player Executive Committee. She graduated from Washington in 2020 and returned to pursue a master's degree in education. Her first name is Nicole. She earned the nickname Sis when she grew up playing wiffle ball in her neighborhood with her older brother and his friends. She has a dog named Nala. Bates lists Washington softball coach Heather Tarr as a person who has made a difference in her life. She participated in basketball, volleyball, soccer, dance, and gymnastics growing up. She enjoys spending time with friends and family and cooking. Bates has worn No. 22 during her entire career because her mother wore the number while playing sports. She lists “Hills and Valleys” by Tauren Wells and “Starlight” by Jon Pardi as her walk-up songs. Bates models her game after Jenn Salling and Natasha Watley.
2024 Championship Season: Bates tallied 1,018 leaderboard points, including 680 win points. She tied for seventh in the league with 298 stat points. Bates started in all 15 games, posting a .327 batting average with two doubles and a home run. She drove in six runs while drawing three walks. Bates led the league with four stolen bases in five attempts and tied for fourth in the league with nine runs scored. She finished fifth in the league with 16 hits. Bates recorded at least one hit in 12 of her 15 games, including eight of her first nine outings. She started the season with a seven-game hitting streak. Bates garnered MVP 3 distinction and matched her season high with 150 leaderboard points against Team Kilfoyl on August 10 after going 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. She also tallied 150 leaderboard points in the Week Two opener against Team Wallace. Bates claimed the Defensive MVP certificate in the Week Five opener against Team Ocasio. She recorded five games with 100 or more leaderboard points.
2023 Championship Season: Bates accumulated 786 leaderboard points throughout the season, which included 630 win points and 156 stat points. She was one of two middle infielders named to the Athletes Unlimited Softball All-Defensive Team and started in all 15 games with a .171 batting average. Bates tallied seven hits during the season, including a home run, and finished 3-for-3 in stolen base attempts. She posted at least one hit in six of her final nine outings and collected a hit in seven different games. Bates belted a home run against Team Alexander on August 9 at the AU Pro Games at the Little League Softball World Series. Finally, she completed the season with four games of 100 or more leaderboard points.
2023 AUX Season: Bates matched her best finish by placing ninth. She earned a total of 976 leaderboard points, which included 750 win points and 166 stat points. Bates was selected as the Game MVP twice, earning MVP 2 honors in Team Leach's 13-3 win over Team Filler on June 19, and MVP 3 recognition on June 14 in Team Garcia's 12-3 victory over Team Mulipola. In Series Two, she scored 428 points in four games. Bates started in all 10 games and had a batting average of .333 (11-for-33). She drove in five runs and scored six times. Bates recorded at least one hit in 8 out of 10 games, with three multi-hit performances. She hit her first home run in Athletes Unlimited against Team Mulipola on June 14, leading off the seventh inning with a solo blast. In the game against Team Filler on June 19, Bates went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and three runs batted in. She had a hit in five consecutive games from June 18-24, going 7-for-16 with four runs batted in.
2022 Championship Season: Bates compiled 1,024 leaderboard points, started in 14 games, and had a .238 batting average with 10 hits (including a triple). She also drove in two runs and scored six runs. Bates hit safely in four of the final seven games and had back-to-back two-hit performances against Team Eberle and Team Harshman to close out Week Two.
2022 AUX Season: Bates was the Inaugural GEICO AUX Softball Defensive MVP and accrued 658 leaderboard points. She started in all 12 games, batted .220 with nine hits (including a double), and drove in five runs. Bates registered a league-high nine assists at shortstop against Team O’Toole on June 25. She closed out the season with a four-game hitting streak, including a two-hit performance against Team O’Toole on June 23. Bates also tallied two hits against Team Eberle on June 14 with a double and two runs batted in. Her play on June 18 against Team Fischer earned her the No. 7 spot on SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays.
2021 Championship Season: Bates was ninth in the league with 1,468 leaderboard points. She tied with Kelsey Stewart for second in Athletes Unlimited with 1,190 win points. Bates hit .326, registered 14 hits (including six for extra bases), and tied for the league lead with five doubles. She was one of eight players to hit a triple, stole a base, and was one of 12 players selected in the Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball College Draft.
International Experience: Bates won a Gold medal with Team USA in the 2017 WBSC Junior Women’s World Championship after hitting .444 (12-for-27) with 12 runs scored and seven runs batted in. She also participated in the World Cup of Softball XII and finished with a .350 batting average while driving in nine runs. Bates helped Team USA win a Gold medal at the 2022 Pan American Championship in Guatemala City, Guatemala. She authored a .563 batting average (9-for-16) in round robin play with two doubles, two triples, and a home run. She also scored eight runs while driving in eight runs. Bates contributed two runs in the Gold Medal Game victory against Canada. She helped Team USA earn first place at the 2023 WBSC World Cup Group A event in Dublin, Ireland. She posted a .500 batting average (4-for-8) with a double and two runs batted in. She led Team USA to a Gold medal at the 2023 Pan American Games with a .500 batting average (8-for-16) and five runs scored. She guided Team USA to a Silver medal at the 2024 WBSC World Cup Finals. Bates was a starter in four of six games who fashioned a .364 average with four hits. She also drew two walks.
At Washington: Bates was a five-year letter winner at Washington and started all 261 career games from 2017-21. She had a .385 career batting average for the Huskies with nine home runs and 145 runs batted in. Bates closed her career as Washington’s all-time leader with 320 hits and was a three-time Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year recipient. She earned NFCA All-America honors three times, including First-Team recognition as a sophomore and junior. Bates also received All-Pac-12 First Team notice as a sophomore, junior, and graduate student. In 2019, she was named Seattle Female Sports Star of the Year, and was one of seven unanimous All-America selections during the 2019 campaign. Bates was a finalist for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award and is one of six players in program history to record 200 or more hits over the first three seasons.
