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6 Underdog Picks to Win AUSL All-Star Cup

Nicole Reitz|
The AUSL All-Star Cup will be held from August 2 to 31.
The AUSL All-Star Cup will be held from August 2 to 31. | AUSL

Though the inaugural season of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) has concluded, there’s still plenty of professional ball to be played. 

Sixty elite players will continue playing and face off in the AUSL All-Star Cup August 2-31. This 21-game high-stakes showdown will create an individual champion instead of a team, embodying the previous Athletes Unlimited format. Teams will be drafted by the top four players on the leaderboard throughout four series of games. 

Returning 2024 Champion Amanda Lorenz leads the Gold team, while Lexi Kilfoyl (Orange), Aleshia Ocasio (Blue), and Georgina Corrick (Purple) also captain teams in Series 1.

Here’s a look at six players who have the potential to come out as a champion. 

Morgan Zerkle

Zerkle had a phenomenal season with the Bandits, leading the league in home runs with nine, and was in a race to become MVP. AUSL’s beat reporter, Benjamin Rosenberg, did the math, and if the inaugural season used the AUSL All-Star Cup point system, Zerkle would have won the title by almost 100 points. She ended the season with a .420 batting average and a .780 slugging percentage. 

Not to mention, she’s a beast in the outfield who flashed leather and made diving catches all season for the Bandits. 

Erin Coffel

The AUSL MVP, Hitter of the Year, and All-Defensive Team member is on a roll and doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. She led the league in OPS with 1.426 and RBIs with 28. Her .424 batting average goes with five doubles and home runs, and four triples. 

Amanda Lorenz 

The reigning 2024 AU Champion, who tied the league batting average with a .373 average, kept her momentum through the 2025 AUSL season. A star at the plate and in the outfield for the Volts, she hit five doubles and home runs with a .977 OPS. Can she clinch a second-straight title?

Rachel Garcia

The two-way player carried the Volts on the mound this season, but struggled to find her rhythm at the plate. She finished with a 3.84 ERA over 54.2 innings, the most she’s seen in her AU career. At the plate, she had a .195 batting average. As a former 2023 AUX champion, the All-Star Cup may give her room to focus on her swing. 

Ana Gold

The AUSL Rookie of the Year came into the pros and owned it. In the what-if All-Star Cup standings from the AUSL stats, Gold would have finished in fourth. She batted .373 for the Blaze and had a .987 fielding percentage between shortstop and third base. 

Bubba Nickles-Camarena

Nickels-Camarena played a strong role in the Bandits making it to the postseason. She finished second in the AUSL with seven home runs to go with 18 RBIs. The 2024 AUX winner knows how to play the point system and may just bring that heat at the plate to the All-Star Cup. 

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Nicole Reitz
NICOLE REITZ

Nicole Reitz graduated from Indiana University Indianapolis with a degree in sports journalism in 2022 and has been writing about softball and baseball since 2018 .Her work has been published in various publications like Softball America, the Indianapolis Star, and SoxOn35th.

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