Michelle Mueller-Hinton from Grain Valley, MO, has been named the Royals Honorary Bat Girl and will be honored on May 20 at Kauffman Stadium

Major League Baseball has announced the winners of the 2015 Honorary Bat Girl contest, which recognizes baseball fans who have been affected by breast cancer and who demonstrate a commitment to eradicating the disease. The Honorary Bat Girl for the Royals is Michelle Mueller-Hinton from Grain Valley, Mo., who will be recognized in a pregame ceremony on Wednesday, May 20.  

After being cancer-free for over 12 years, Mueller-Hinton was told by her doctors that her breast cancer had returned. While undergoing treatments for a year, Michelle continued to run a preschool and serve as the education director at First United Methodist of Blue Springs. With strong support from her family and friends, Michelle is an enthusiastic Royals fan who also volunteers as a Team Captain for the Susan G. Komen Greater Kansas City Race for the Cure.
 
The Royals will host Komen Kansas City Night to recognize breast cancer survivors on Wednesday, May 20. Survivors will be recognized during a special pre-game presentation and in the Buck O'Neil Legacy Seat. In addition, the organization will host a silent auction and distribute information outside the Royals Charities Headquarters. Specially-priced tickets can be purchased by contacting Komen Kansas City at (816) 842-0410. 

The Honorary Bat Girl program was introduced in 2009 to raise additional awareness and support for the annual "Going to Bat against Breast Cancer" initiative celebrated on Mother's Day. In seven years, thousands of unique testimonials have been submitted and more than 2 million fan votes have been cast. Going to Bat against Breast Cancer is a Major League Baseball initiative supported by MLB charitable partners, Stand Up To Cancer and Susan G. Komen. This initiative raises awareness about the breast cancer cause, while also raising funds to support breast cancer research.

On Mother's Day, players and on-field personnel will wear the symbolic pink ribbon on their uniforms along with pink wrist bands. Commemorative base jewels and dugout lineup cards also will be pink. Games will feature a pink-stitched Rawlings baseball, the official ball of MLB, as the official game ball. Many MLB players also will use pink bats, and pink Louisville Slugger bats, the Official Bat of Major League Baseball, will be stamped with the MLB breast cancer awareness logo. Many authenticated, game-used Louisville Slugger pink bats from Mother's Day games will be auctioned exclusively on MLB.com to benefit the fight against breast cancer.