AUSL Players Form a Union
Plus: a Briski perfect game, Tennessee and Utah State land 2028 arms, AUSL re-signings, and a new February tournament in Sarasota.
A players' union, a fall perfect game and a busy week for 2028 pitchers. Here's what happened this past week.
Lead Off
The players of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) announced on Oct. 13 that they have formed the AUSL Players Association. They say a supermajority of players signed union cards, and they asked the league to recognize the union voluntarily and to negotiate a first collective bargaining agreement (CBA, the contract that sets pay and working conditions for every player) well before the 2027 season.
The union hired Sports Solidarity, the firm founded by Harry Marino, who led the 2022 effort to unionize minor league baseball players, along with the labor law firm Altshuler Berzon. The league had not responded publicly in the first reports.
Why it matters: The AUSL just finished a season with record TV audiences and sellout crowds, and its players now want a say in how that growth gets shared. With re-signings already under way, how fast the league responds will shape the 2027 offseason. Source →
By the Numbers
31–0 — Alabama's combined score across four fall shutouts on Oct. 17–18: 10–0 over Jones College, 7–0 over West Alabama, and 11–0 and 3–0 over Mobile. Fall games don't count, but that still reads like a warning. Source · Alabama Athletics
Scoreboard
Last 7 days
| Final | Note |
|---|---|
| Alabama 11–0 Mobile (fall) | Briski perfect game, 15 strikeouts; Vandagriff inside-the-park grand slam |
| Florida 29–1 Carson-Newman (fall, 10 inn.) | Ava Brown two homers, six RBIs, a night after a 20–0 opener |
| Arkansas 9–3 Oklahoma State (fall, 10 inn.) | OSU out-hit the Hogs 9–8 at Bogle Park |
| LSU 7–1 Northwestern State (fall) | Ci'ella Pickett two-run homer in the opener |
| Impact Gold National 2030 8–5 Farm Systems Prospects (Triple Crown, 14U final) | Road to the Rockies title near Houston, Oct. 18 |
This week — 5 to watch
| When | What | Watch |
|---|---|---|
| Wed Oct 21 | Oklahoma Battle Series Game 4, 6:30 PM | Norman |
| Fri Oct 23–Sun Oct 25 | Bluegrass Invitational Showcase (Alliance/SEFL qualifier, 14U–18U) | Paducah, Ky. |
| Sat Oct 24 | MLBx: Mumbai with Rachel Garcia and Jordan Woolery | Mumbai |
| Sat Oct 24–Sun Oct 25 | LSU vs. Florida State, two games | Orange Beach, Ala. |
| Tue Oct 27 | Florida vs. USF, 6 PM, free admission | Gainesville |
Recruiting note: nominations for Line Drive Media's final 2027 HOT 100 close Monday, Oct. 26.
Hot Corner
1. Jocelyn Briski throws a fall perfect game
Alabama's ace retired all 21 Mobile batters on Sunday, Oct. 18, striking out 15 in an 11–0 win at Rhoads Stadium. Audrey Vandagriff legged out an inside-the-park grand slam in the same game, and Kailey Plumlee and Vic Moten combined on a 3–0 shutout in the nightcap. "Jocelyn picked up where she left off last spring," coach Patrick Murphy said. Source →
2. Tennessee and Utah State load up on 2028 pitchers
Iowa Premier pitcher Megan Kuiper (No. 40, Softball America) committed to Tennessee on Oct. 18, joining a Vols class that already includes five-stars Reagan Eldred and Caelyn Campos. Out west, Top Gun pitcher Courtney Bandy, No. 9 in Line Drive's 2028 HOT 100, picked Utah State, the Aggies' third top-25 HOT 100 commit in about three weeks under first-year coach Kristen Zaleski. Source →
3. AUSL re-signing season heats up
The OKC Spark moved pitcher Lyndsey Grein from the Reserve Pool to a full 2027 roster contract after a rookie year with a 2.28 ERA. The Texas Volts re-signed Rylie Boone (third in the league at .349), Alyssa Denham, Danieca Coffey and Ally Carda, and released outfielder Jaydyn Goodwin into the winter Allocation Draft pool. Source →
4. Paige Sinicki turns her cancer fight into a foundation
The Portland Cascade infielder was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer at 22, went through chemotherapy, surgery and radiation, and made her pro debut in July. Now cancer-free, she launched the One4One Foundation, which has already sold more than 2,500 pink wristbands to 40 softball programs. Source →
5. A new February tournament lands in Sarasota
The inaugural Sarasota Classic, Feb. 11–14, 2027, brings Alabama, Florida State, Texas State, Baylor, Ohio State and James Madison to Florida's Gulf Coast. The All Women's Sports Network will carry it worldwide and the best record wins a championship belt. Source →
From the Dugout
Podcast pick: Everything Fastpitch — "Repairing Gloves / Navy SEAL Training in Softball / Hitting Adjustment" (Ep. 442, Oct. 14). Coaches Tory Acheson and Don McKinlay talk glove repair, borrow the Navy SEAL idea that under pressure you "sink to the level of your training," and name the most common first fix for a struggling hitter: get the front foot down earlier. Takeaway: Make fall practice reps game-speed, because that's the level your player will fall back on in March. Listen →
Clip of the week: @defenselessons — Morgan Stuart's Defense Lessons on "lazy" footwork: fielders who let their feet drift behind or beside them waste the momentum they just built. The fix: drive off the back leg to get moving in the right direction. Worth saving for infield parents.
Play of the Week
Tori Edwards goes deep twice, and once onto a roof
Florida's first fall game was a 20–0 rout of Santa Fe College, and the LSU transfer Tori Edwards made it memorable. In the fifth inning she hit a two-run homer into the scoreboard. Her next time up, in the sixth, she sent a solo shot onto the roof of the pitching lab beyond left field. She added a third fall homer the next night against Carson-Newman.
Source: @gatorssb · Read the game notes →
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