July 20, 2022, New York, N.Y. – The final roster is set for the third championship season of Athletes Unlimited Softball, which will run from July 29 to August 28 with all games returning to the Chicago area at the Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont, Ill. Athletes Unlimited Softball features 35 athletes with national team experience among its 60 competitors – including 19 former Olympians – playing 30 games over four weeks. Tickets can be purchased at auprosports.com/tickets, and all games will be broadcast live exclusively on ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN+ (full schedule below).
Athletes Unlimited Softball builds on the recent wave of momentum for women’s softball including Athletes Unlimited’s recent expansion – AUX Softball in San Diego – which drove a 74% increase in viewership, a +268% increase in social media engagement and a +783% jump in web traffic to www.auprosports.com over comparable periods the year before.
Led by All-World Team selections Dejah Mulipola and Haylie McCleney, 11 members of the 2022 Athletes Unlimited Softball roster competed earlier this month at The World Games in Birmingham, Alabama. Joining Mulipola and McCleney from Team USA are Hannah Flippen, Janae Jefferson, Amanda Lorenz, Bubba Nickles and Gwen Svekis, while Team Canada’s Alysen Febrey, Kelsey Harshman and Victoria Hayward and Team Puerto Rico’s Aleshia Ocasio will also compete.
Ocasio comes in as the defending champion, having won the 2021 Athletes Unlimited Softball crown. In addition, Danielle O’Toole will return to competition coming off her championship in the inaugural AUX Softball event held this June, as will AUX runner-up Rachel Garcia and GEICO Defensive MVP Sis Bates.
Jefferson joins Maggie Balint, Mia Davidson, Danielle Gibson, Rachel Lewis, Sydney Sherrill and Peyton St. George among players joining Athletes Unlimited fresh off completing their NCAA careers. Additional standout players competing in Athletes Unlimited this summer include Odicci Alexander, Sara Groenewegen, Erika Piancastelli and Anissa Urtez.
The full 2022 Athletes Unlimited Softball roster and game schedule can be found below.
Like its other leagues, Athletes Unlimited Softball features a range of scoring innovations to bring athletes and fans a unique and intense version of the sport. Individual athletes earn points based on both team wins and individual performance and become the champions in team sports. Points are earned on every play and the leaderboard will change constantly. In addition, teams change each week, with the top four athletes in the standings serving as captains and drafting their teams. At the end of the season, the player with the most points is crowned as individual champion.
“Women’s softball is on the rise, and Athletes Unlimited is proud of the role we have played in building the sport while providing the very best professional experience for players anywhere in the world,” said Cheri Kempf, Senior Vice President, Athletes Unlimited. “We are looking forward to another thrilling championship season this summer featuring a world-class roster.”
About Athletes Unlimited
Athletes Unlimited is a new model of pro sports where athletes are decision-makers and individual players are champions of team sports. Athletes Unlimited literally changes the game with faster play and new team rosters every week, delivering next-level competition and engagement in which every moment counts. The first season of women’s softball took place in 2020, with the inaugural seasons of women’s indoor volleyball and women’s lacrosse being completed in 2021, along with season two of softball. We completed our inaugural Basketball league, season two of volleyball and inaugural AUX softball competitions in 2022 and are slated to host our second lacrosse and third Championship Softball seasons in late July. For more information, visit AUProSports.com.
ATHLETES UNLIMITED SOFTBALL
FINAL SCHEDULE AND ROSTER (in alphabetical order)
Game # Day Date Time (ET) Time (PT) Network
1 Friday July 29 7:00pm 4:00pm ESPN2
2 Friday July 29 9:30pm 6:30pm ESPN+
3 Saturday July 30 6:30pm 3:30pm ESPN+
4 Saturday July 30 9:00pm 6:00pm ESPN+
5 Sunday July 31 7:00pm 4:00pm ESPN2
6 Sunday July 31 9:30pm 6:30pm ESPN2
7 Friday August 5 6:30pm 3:30pm ESPNU
8 Friday August 5 9:00pm 6:00pm ESPNU
9 Saturday August 6 12:00pm 9:00am ESPN+
10 Saturday August 6 2:30pm 11:30pm ESPN2
11 Sunday August 7 2:00pm 11:00am ESPN+
12 Sunday August 7 4:30pm 1:30pm ESPN+
13 Friday August 12 6:30pm 3:30pm ESPN+
14 Friday August 12 9:00pm 6:00pm ESPN2
15 Saturday August 13 6:00pm 3:00pm ESPNU
16 Saturday August 13 8:30pm 5:30pm ESPNU
17 Sunday August 14 5:30pm 2:30pm ESPN+
18 Sunday August 14 8:00pm 5:00pm ESPN+
19 Friday August 19 6:30pm 3:30pm ESPN+
20 Friday August 19 9:00pm 6:00pm ESPN+
21 Saturday August 20 2:00pm 11:00am ESPN2
22 Saturday August 20 4:30pm 1:30pm ESPN2
23 Sunday August 21 2:00pm 11:00am ESPN+
24 Sunday August 21 4:30pm 1:30pm ESPN+
25 Friday August 26 5:30pm 2:30pm ESPN+
26 Friday August 26 8:00pm 5:00pm ESPN+
27 Saturday August 27 1:00pm 10:00am ESPNU
28 Saturday August 27 3:30pm 12:30pm ESPNU
29 Sunday August 28 2:00pm 11:00am ESPN+
30 Sunday August 28 4:30pm 1:30pm ESPN+
No. Name Pos. Ht. B/T Hometown School
22 Odicci Alexander P 5-7 R/R Boydton, Va. James Madison
11 Aliyah Andrews OF 5-8 L/R Oldsmar, Fla. LSU
31 Maggie Balint P 5-8 R/R West Grove, Pa. San Diego State
96 Sis Bates MIF 5-4 L/R Ceres, Calif. Washington
72 Rylee Bayless OF 5-3 L/R Kansas City, Mo. Oklahoma State
54 Hayley Busby CIF 5-7 R/R Phoenix, Ariz. Oklahoma State
81 Greta Cecchetti P 6-0 R/R Bollate, Lombardia, Italy Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
4 Amanda Chidester CIF 5-9 R/R Allen Park, Mich. Michigan
20 Caleigh Clifton MIF 5-8 R/R Wayne, Okla. Oklahoma
46 Mia Davidson C 5-5 R/R Hillsborough, N.C. Mississippi State
40 Alyssa Denham P 6-1 R/R Alvin, Texas Arizona
44 Carrie Eberle P 6-0 R/R Charlotte, N.C. Oklahoma State
12 Taylor Edwards C 5-7 R/R Murrieta, Calif. Nebraska
55 Alysen Febrey CIF 5-8 L/L Peachtree City, Ga. Oklahoma State
70 Andrea Filler CIF 5-10 R/R Fort Wayne, Ind. Northwestern
52 Sam Fischer CIF 5-11 R/R Simi Valley, Calif. Loyola Marymount
19 Hannah Flippen MIF 5-4 R/R Bonita, Calif. Utah
68 Courtney Gano CIF 5-9 R/R West Covina, Calif. Washington
00 Rachel Garcia P 5-6 R/R Palmdale, Calif. UCLA
5 Danielle Gibson CIF 6-0 L/R Murrieta, Calif. Arkansas
71 Sara Groenewegen P 5-8 R/R White Rock, BC, Canada Minnesota
14 Aly Harrell CIF 5-7 L/L Gahanna, Ohio Marshall
33 Kelsey Harshman MIF 5-5 L/R Tucson, Ariz. Wisconsin
1 Victoria Hayward OF 5-7 L/L Mountain View, Calif. Washington
24 Jazmyn Jackson OF 5-7 L/R San Jose, Calif. California
27 Sahvanna Jaquish C 5-7 R/R Highland, Calif. LSU
42 Janae Jefferson MIF 5-4 L/R Humble, Texas Texas
75 Aubrey Leach MIF 5-4 L/R The Woodlands, Texas Tennessee
43 Rachel Lewis MIF 5-6 R/R Liberty Township, Ohio Northwestern
77 Sydney Littlejohn Watkins P 6-1 R/R Rusk, Texas Alabama
23 Amanda Lorenz OF 5-5 L/L Moorpark, Calif. Florida
60 Mariah Mazon P 5-10 R/R Tulare, Calif. Oregon State
28 Haylie McCleney OF 5-4 L/L Morris, Ala. Alabama
82 Taylor McQuillin P 5-8 L/L Mission Viejo, Calif. Arizona
15 Dejah Mulipola C 5-8 R/R Garden Grove, Calif. Arizona
48 Bubba Nickles OF 5-8 R/R Merced, Calif. UCLA
9 Kiki Stokes-O’Connor OF 5-5 L/R Olathe, Kan. Nebraska
3 Danielle O’Toole P 5-8 R/L Upland, Calif. Arizona
8 Aleshia Ocasio P 5-9 L/R St. Cloud, Fla. Florida
13 Sashel Palacios C 5-3 L/R Chula Vista, Calif. Arizona State
34 Erika Piancastelli C 5-9 R/R Modena, Italy McNeese State
47 Lilli Piper CIF 5-10 R/R Norton, Ohio Ohio State
10 Abby Ramirez MIF 5-4 S/R Chicago, Ill. Michigan
35 Nicole Rangel-Mendes OF 5-7 L/L Houston, Texas Oklahoma
6 Shannon Rhodes OF 5-6 R/R Fort Worth, Texas Texas
41 Jordan Roberts C 5-7 R/R Live Oak, Fla. Florida
32 Sierra Romero MIF 5-5 R/R Murrieta, Calif. Michigan
2 Sydney Romero MIF 5-7 R/R San Diego, Calif. Oklahoma
66 Shannon Saile P 5-7 R/R Tampa, Fla. Oklahoma
37 DJ Sanders OF 5-9 R/R Columbus, Miss. Oregon
26 Sydney Sherrill CIF 5-7 L/R Moore, Okla. Florida State
50 Peyton St. George P 5-10 R/R Mechanicsville, Va. Duke
21 Gwen Svekis C 5-9 R/R Davie, Fla. Oregon
88 Nadia Taylor CIF 5-8 R/R Humble, Texas Texas
7 Anissa Urtez MIF 5-8 R/R Long Beach, Calif. Utah
29 Tori Vidales CIF 5-5 R/R La Porte, Texas Texas A&M
17 Haylie Wagner P 5-7 R/L Orange, Calif. Michigan
49 Danielle Watson P 5-8 R/R Osceola, Ind. Florida State
25 Megan Wiggins OF 5-5 L/R Winder, Ga. Georgia
18 Morgan Zerkle OF 5-8 L/R Milton, W.Va. Marshall
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