Utah is back in the final — and pro softball is about to make network-TV history
Georgina Corrick shuts down Chicago to send the Talons to a title defense, the playoff bracket locks in, and Game 1 lands on ABC — the first pro softball game ever on network television.
The AUSL regular season is over, the playoff bracket is set, and the road to College Station runs through a first for the sport: pro softball on network television. Plus a record shared, a three-peat bid reloading, and travel ball's biggest stage going live. Let's dig in.
Lead Off
The defending-champion Utah Talons are going back to the AUSL Championship. Utah beat the Chicago Bandits 3–1 on Sunday night to close the regular season, clinching the No. 1 overall seed and an automatic berth into the best-of-three title series. Reigning Pitcher of the Year Georgina Corrick — fresh off a plane from Peru, where she'd been pitching for Great Britain — spun a complete-game gem against the league's best offense, retiring 12 straight at one stretch and allowing just one unearned run on two hits. Jordan Woolery's sixth-inning squeeze bunt broke a 1–1 tie. Utah and Chicago both finished 16–9; the Talons owned the tiebreaker on an earlier three-game sweep.
Why it matters: The top seed skips Thursday's play-in and waits at Davis Diamond. Utah is one series from a repeat — and Game 1 will be the first professional softball game ever shown on network television. On3 →
By the Numbers
10 — home runs, the AUSL single-season record, now shared by former UCLA teammates Maya Brady (OKC Spark) and Megan Grant (Portland Cascade), who both reached it in the season's final week. Grant, the reigning NCAA single-season home-run champ, went deep twice in one game to pull even with Brady. Source · AUSL.
Scoreboard
Last 7 days — the regular season signs off
| Final | Note |
|---|---|
| Talons 3–1 Bandits (Sun) | Corrick's complete game clinches the No. 1 seed; Woolery's sixth-inning squeeze bunt is the difference |
| Blaze 11–1 Spark (Mon, run-rule) | Carolina spoils OKC's win-or-go-home finale; Portland (14–11) backs in as the No. 3 seed |
| Grant ties the AUSL HR record (Cascade) | Megan Grant's two-homer game pulls her even with Maya Brady at 10 — a mark two former Bruins now share |
This week — 5 to watch
| When | What | Watch |
|---|---|---|
| Thu Jul 23 | AUSL Play-In: No. 2 Bandits vs No. 3 Cascade at Davis Diamond | ESPN |
| Sat Jul 25 | Championship Game 1: Talons vs play-in winner — pro softball's first network-TV game | ABC |
| Sun Jul 26 | Championship Game 2 from College Station | ESPN |
| Mon Jul 27 | Championship Game 3 (if needed) — winner-take-all | ESPN2 |
| Now–Jul 25 | PGF Nationals Week One (18U & 16U), Orange County | PGF Network |
Six months of pro softball comes down to one weekend in College Station.
Hot Corner
1. Chicago locks the No. 2 seed and a shot at a rematch
The Bandits' second-half surge earned them the No. 2 seed and a single-elimination play-in on Thursday. Win it, and Chicago gets the Talons again — the team that just swept the season series to grab the top seed. The Bandits finished 16–9, tied with Utah but on the wrong side of the tiebreaker, and now chase a title-series rematch the hard way. On3 →
2. Portland grabs the final playoff spot
The expansion Portland Cascade (14–11) are in. Carolina run-ruled Oklahoma City 11–1 in Monday's regular-season finale, and because the Spark needed a sweep to leapfrog them, Portland backed into the No. 3 seed. The Cascade now draw Chicago in Thursday's play-in — Sydney Romero's Sunday glove-flip gem kept OKC alive one more night, but they fell a game short. MLB →
3. The Championship makes television history
The best-of-three final opens Saturday, July 25 at Texas A&M's Davis Diamond in College Station, where top-seeded Utah waits on the Bandits–Cascade play-in winner. Game 1 airs on ABC — the first professional softball game ever broadcast on network television — with Game 2 Sunday on ESPN and a winner-take-all Game 3 on ESPN2 Monday if needed. AUSL →
4. Texas reloads for a three-peat
The back-to-back national champs aren't standing pat. Texas added a trio of transfers — Isa Torres, Samantha Swan and Samantha Lincoln — to a roster already chasing an unprecedented third straight title in 2027. It's the offseason's clearest sign that the Longhorns intend to reload, not retool. On3 →
5. PGF Nationals Week One takes over Orange County
Travel ball's biggest stage is live. PGF Nationals Week One has 18U and 16U teams playing through July 25 across Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley and Irvine, with college coaches lining the fences and the 18U Premier "Bucket" trophy on the line. If you follow one recruiting-season feed this week, make it this one. PGF Nationals →
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From the Dugout
Podcast pick: With PGF Nationals underway, The Car Ride Home (Alliance Fastpitch) is worth the commute — the show keeps returning to the travel-ball-to-college-to-pro path and how to handle the showcase grind. Takeaway: at a national event the goal isn't to do more; it's to let a coach see your normal at-bat, so treat pool play like a Tuesday scrimmage, not an audition. Listen →
Clip of the week: @amandalorenz — the former Florida All-American's hitting feed breaks down load and timing in a way a 12U and a college slugger can both use; a quick, rewatchable save before your player's next cage session.
Worth a read: Just Baseball's 10 breakthroughs to watch as the AUSL playoffs approach is a smart primer on the names who'll decide College Station.
Play of the Week
Air Aliyah scales the wall to steal a home run
On the same night Utah clinched the top seed, Aliyah Andrews reminded everyone why they call her Air Aliyah. Tracking a deep drive to the warning track, she timed her leap, reached over the fence, and pulled the ball back into the yard — a home-run robbery clean enough to headline a Rawlings "Defensive Masterclass." In a game thick with stakes, it was the moment that made the whole park gasp.
Source: @theauslofficial · Rawlings Defensive Highlights · Watch the full clip →
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