The first year of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League is almost complete, with the Talons and Blaze set to face off this weekend in the Championship series beginning Friday night. The two teams raced ahead of the competition, thanks to stars like the Talons' Georgina Corrick, who paced the circuit with a 2.04 ERA en route to Pitcher of the Year honors, or Bandits outfielder Bubba Nickles-Camarena, who finished second in the league with seven home runs -- just two behind her teammate Morgan Zerkle for the league lead.
The path to the championship weekend didn't just go through the AUSL and its stops across America, though: For some, their softball careers took them to Japan. Many of the league's best players, including Corrick and Nickles-Camarena, have played professionally in Japan's Diamond League, a 16-team league that was founded in 2022. While the current iteration of the league and its name is new, the idea is not: Before the JD League, there was the Japan Softball League, which operated from 1968-2021. Just like the AUSL, it was the place where the best-of-the-best from all around the globe have gone to play and show off their skills.
ATHLETES UNLIMITED SOFTBALL LEAGUE
Just as she has at every stop in her career, Corrick dominated in Japan. In her first season with the Toda Medics in 2024, she went 9-1 and led the East League with a 1.28 ERA. Showing off the same skills she displayed when she tossed a perfect game against Ireland while pitching for Great Britain, she also threw the 13th no-hitter in the league's history.
As is often the case when American baseball players go to Japan, Corrick was also surprised by the difference in training.
"There's a reason that Japan is number one in the world for softball: They train really, really hard," Corrick told MLB.com. "We train six days a week, eight hours a day, so it's a pretty intensive training and playing schedule. Their style of play is very different, so it's also a big learning experience as well."
Just as AUSL rosters feature players who have represented nations like Great Britain, the United States, Italy and Mexico on their rosters, the JD League looks to do the same. If you want to grow the sport and have the highest level of talent, you can't simply draw on domestic ballplayers.
"The JD League operates with the goal of creating the best women's softball league in the world," JD League secretary general Atsushi Ihara said through MLB's Sho Kurematsu, who translated. "That includes in the area of talent. In the JD League's pursuit of becoming the best women's softball league in the world, we found that it's not just talent from America, it's from Italy, Australia, really anywhere from across the world with the greatest level of talent in softball."
Corrick wasn't alone in Japan, getting to play alongside her Talons teammate Sahvanna Jaquish while playing with the Medics. That helped ease Corrick's transition to a new country and a new style of play.
"I would say my first year was a huge culture shock, because not only is everything different, you're also different," Corrick said. "I was not very used to going around and getting a lot of stares. ... But I was really fortunate in that I went to the JDL and the Toda Medics team that I played for with another American, Sahvanna Jaquish. We got to experience it together and have each other to bounce off of. I have a phenomenal translator, as well, so she's able to really facilitate any communication between the girls and I."
Corrick isn't even the only Talons pitcher to have played in Japan, either. Her teammate, Megan Faraimo, spent two years with the Toyota Red Terriers in 2023-24, before playing in Mexico earlier this season. Faraimo may have even topped Corrick's performance in 2024, posting a ridiculous 0.77 ERA across 90 1/3 innings that year. That earned her the league's Outstanding Player Award after she helped the Red Terriers repeat as Diamond Series champions.
Talons rookie Maya Brady also played for the Red Terriers this past season, making her AUSL debut after finishing her time in Japan.
"It's a really great opportunity to just see how the world plays softball," Brady said. "It just opened up my perspective."
When those four play the Bandits in this weekend's AUSL Championship, they'll be facing plenty of internationally seasoned competition. In addition to Nickles-Camarena -- who played alongside Faraimo on the Red Terriers -- Bandits pitcher Taylor McQuillin played for the Hitachi Sundivas from 2022-23, while catcher Mia Davidson played with the Denso Bright Pegasus.
The experience didn't just take the players around the world, it helped make them even better softball players. While the intense training certainly helps, they also had to adjust to the style of play in Japan. McQuillin noted that the JD League is a faster-paced, more technical game than the one you often see in the States.
“It’s all so fast. They make the game quick. That’s what they’re taught to do,” McQuillin said. “In America, we’re taught how to slow the game down so it doesn’t get fast on us. It’s the exact opposite. … The way they’re able to field the ground ball, get rid of it and transition it out, it’s unbelievable.”
"I feel the best thing for players to do is to pick up on the good parts of each style of play in each country," Ihara said. "[Players should] also build their own individual style from whatever they've accumulated and experienced across those different styles."
Volts star and Italian national team member Erika Piancastelli agrees.
"I think Japan has one of the highest levels of softball, but they play the game so different," she said. "They're not about power, they're more about speed. The games are really fast. The pitching style is different, pitch-calling is different, strategy is different. And then you come out here, we're all about power. We want home runs, we have fast pitching. It's just two different games, and I think they're both very similar in level."
While softball is growing exponentially, leagues like the AUSL are relatively new. When Blaze pitcher Carley Hoover first graduated from college, the opportunities weren't the same as they are today. She's spent six years in the JD League, taking home Pitcher of the Year honors in 2022 after striking out 198 batters in 152 innings while leading the league with 18 wins,
"When I was just out of college, it was a little more uncertain landscape of pro softball in America," Hoover said. "Japan was, and still is consistent monetarily and among those aspects, if you really want to make it your life. That was always what I wanted to do."
"It is very difficult trying to make a life as a professional softball player,” Faraimo told The Coast News last year. “I am super lucky with these opportunities. Not all of us get asked to play in Japan and get paid enough money to have a sustainable career in softball."
As leagues like the AUSL and JD League continue to grow, alongside other women's sports circuits like the WNBA, that may soon change. The future of the game looks bright, especially with softball returning to the Olympics in 2028.
"Honestly, this is just a dream come true," Brady said about playing in the AUSL. "Growing up, I never thought there would be anything like this. This is just such an amazing opportunity to keep your name relevant and hopefully work for [the Olympics in] 2028. It's great to set the foundation for the future. It's really exciting."
Thank you to Matt Monagan and Syd Woolf for reporting assistance.