After a historic inaugural season – with record-breaking crowds, superstar-powered highlights and elite women-celebrating-women cameos – it's time for the Athletes Unlimited Softball League Championship Series presented by Sephora. Two teams, the Talons and the Bandits, will square off in what should be an epic best-of-three series in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
“This is an incredible sport with incredible fans and incredible players, and we are just so proud to be the organization that’s been able to create the platform that brings it all together,” said Athletes Unlimited CEO and Co-Founder Jon Patricof. “The launch of the AUSL only six weeks ago -- it’s been nothing short of remarkable.”
ATHLETES UNLIMITED SOFTBALL LEAGUE
Here’s all you need to know before things get underway this weekend.
How were the two playoff teams determined?
Four teams – the Talons, the Bandits, the Blaze and the Volts – each played a 24-game season (48 games total for the four-team league), barnstorming across nine different cities. These were draft teams, not city-based (although the plan is to have them represent cities in 2026). The two teams with the best records from the regular season will now compete against each other in a best-of-three-game set, with the first-place Talons (18-6) facing the second-place Bandits (15-9).
Who are the team GMs? How about the on-field managers?
The Talons' front office is run by GM Lisa Fernandez, a two-time national champion at UCLA and a three-time medal-winning Olympian with Team USA, with whom she set a Olympic softball record with 25 strikeouts in a game. On the field? Their manager is Howard Dobson, a former college baseball player who was heavily involved with USA Softball from 2012-2021 and has long coached in the collegiate ranks, including in his current position as hitting coach at LSU.
The Bandits' GM is Jenny Dalton-Hill. Hill holds the NCAA Division I record for RBIs and won three Women’s College World Series championships at Arizona (1993, 1994, 1996). In the dugout, it’s Stacey Nuveman-Deniz, a former catcher who won a national championship with UCLA in 1999 and two Olympic gold medals. She also nabbed one silver for Team USA before serving as head coach at San Diego State University.
Where is the championship?
The best-of-three championship series will take place in Tuscaloosa, Ala., at University of Alabama's famed Rhoads Stadium.
When is it? And can I watch it on TV?
Here's how you can catch every game:
Game 1: Saturday, July 26, 3 p.m. ET on ESPN
Game 2: Sunday, July 27, 2 p.m. ET on ESPN
Game 3 (if necessary): Monday, July 28, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2
Want to have a watch party with friends? Visit one of these 21 Athletes Unlimited Women's Softball Alliance bars across the country.
How good are the Talons? What stars should I look out for?
Full, sortable rosters for all teams are available here, but the Talons dominated the competition for most of the regular season, eventually finishing three games ahead of the Bandits. It helps that they have the best pitcher in the league – and likely one of the best in the world:
Georgina Corrick set nearly every pitcher record at the University of Florida – throwing seven no-hitters. She’s helped her homeland, Great Britain, to multiple medals in international play. She’s pitched two pro seasons in Japan’s Diamond League. She’s 6-0 in the AUSL, led the league in ERA (2.04) and tied for the lead in saves (4). She also swims with sharks and uses the apex predator’s mentality to make herself better in her own life.
She’ll get the ball in Game 1 on Saturday. The rotation is rounded out by Crimson Tide legend Montana Fouts, who holds a 2.71 ERA and will be back pitching at her alma mater in Tuscaloosa. Megan Faraimo, second in the league with 38 strikeouts, should also be in the mix.
There’s also outfielder Maya Brady, the niece of NFL legend Tom Brady and Red Sox World Series champ Kevin Youkilis. She’s continuing to make a name in her own right:
The UCLA standout recently returned from a weeks-long injury and has been on fire, putting up an OPS of 1.609 with a homer and five RBIs in six games.
What about the Bandits? How do they match up?
Well, while the Talons have had the best pitching in the league, the Bandits have mostly featured the best hitting.
Morgan Zerkle, who was always known more for her speed at Marshall University, has exploded on the scene with nine home runs … in just 93 at-bats. That’s a home run per every 10.3 at-bats, better than any career mark held by any Major Leaguer ever. She leads the AUSL in homers, hits, runs and doubles, and she's second in RBIs.
Three of the top four league leaders in OPS are actually on the Bandits. Erin Coffel -- who was just named AUSL Hitter of the Year -- holds a 1.435 OPS for second, while Zerkle is in third at 1.239 and Skylar Wallace’s 1.154 mark is just behind those two in fourth. (Brady is in first in very limited action.) The top four home run leaders? Also all Bandits. Coffel is tied for fourth in the circuit with five dingers, while Wallace is third with six and in second – just behind first-place Zerkle – is the Bandits outfielder who goes by Bubba.
Madison Nickles-Camarena, who’s gone by the nickname since she was 12, has seven homers in just 80 at-bats this season.
Oh, and there is a certified ace on their staff to go up against Corrick, too: Lexi Kilfoyl. The Oklahoma State grad put up the second-best ERA of the year at 2.35 and finished with a 6-1 record.
How did the two teams fare against each other during the regular season?
The Talons and Bandits split their eight games against each other -- an even four wins and four losses. All of the games were determined by four runs or fewer, besides two Bandits blowouts. The two one-run matchups were won by the Talons, the most recent in a back-and-forth extra-inning affair, the other in a dramatic, seventh-inning comeback capped by a walk-off two-run homer.
Is the championship the last AUSL action we’ll see this season?
Fortunately, no. There will be an AUSL All-Star Cup, and it will take place throughout the month of August in Illinois and North Carolina, involving 60 star softball players.
Full details of the All-Star Cup can be found here.
Where can I learn more about the AUSL?
Fans can find links to tickets and sign up for updates on the AUSL website and can follow the league on social media @theAUSLofficial.