Softball On SI

AUSL Volts Reunite GM Cat Osterman With Former Texas State Boss at Perfect Time

General Manager Cat Osterman has tapped Texas State head coach Ricci Woodard to lead the AUSL Volts in 2026.
Allison Smith|
Texas State's Ricci Woodard will serve as the new head coach of AUSL Volts for the 2026 season.
Texas State's Ricci Woodard will serve as the new head coach of AUSL Volts for the 2026 season. | CJ Halloran, Texas State Athletics

As the Volts look and prepare for their second season in the AUSL, they will be led by a coach with an impressive resume in Texas State's Ricci Woodard.

Woodard joins General Manager Cat Osterman, who will serve in the role for her second season with the Volts.

Woodard and Osterman have history together, as Osterman served as the pitching coach at Texas State for six seasons under Woodard's tutelage.

Woodard has accumulated a 878-521-2 record, 14 conference championships (eight regular season, six tournament), and 11 Division I Softball NCAA Regional appearances.

In taking the position, Woodard overcame some initial doubts about her ability to manage both her collegiate coaching and now professional responsibilities.

"Yeah, it's kind of the timing of it (that) seems to be perfect," Woodard said on a Zoom call Monday afternoon. "I'll be honest. I wasn't real sure I could do it [coach at Texas State], and do this job, and do a good job at both."

However, Woodard explained that a family accident taught her that she could depend on her staff at Texas State to lead and run things in her absence.

"Last summer, I was out five weeks, and the job seemed to do fine without me, so that kind of made (me) feel like, okay, maybe I could balance both, and be in a good spot to do both," Woodard explained. "It's a very intriguing thing for me, just to be able to, one, get the opportunity to work with elite athletes every day, and two, help grow our pro league."

Cat Osterman stands with pitcher and catcher in the circle.
Cat Osterman, former coach for Texas State hires Ricci Woodard to AUSL Volts. | San Marcos Daily Record

Plus, the chance for Woodard and Osterman to work together once again was an attractive factor that led to her decision to take the position.

"But there's nobody else that I would have done it for except Cat Osterman," Woodard said with a smile. "And that's because I know what I'm getting. She knows what she's getting. We know how to work together."

For Woodard, working within the AUSL allows her to coach "some of the best hitters in the world", and that isn't a knock on the talent she has had come through her program at Texas State.

"I'm going to get to work with the best in the world, in my opinion," Woodard added. "So that probably has me going the most. But it's one of those days. It's still coaching. It's still the job I have right now. It's just with a different group. And so my job is to figure out how to manage that group and keep us all moving in the same direction."

Woodard and Osterman's Shared Vision Heading into the Expansion Draft

For Osterman, planning for the Expansion Draft first came with prioritizing the five protected Volts players: Rachel Garcia (formerly UCLA Softball), Amanda Lorenz (Florida), Tiare Jennings (Oklahoma), Mia Scott (Texas), and Dejah Mulipola (Arizona), and notably leaving off former No. 1 overall draft pick, Sam Landry.

Osterman feels that building the team around these five core players can lead to success.

"I had an idea of who I wanted to protect before Coach Woodard became official," Osterman explained, "and that was part of it. I mean, offense is going to obviously win us ballgames. Rachel did her job in the circle, and I felt like that was a no-brainer to obviously keep her on our roster. You know, we're going to try to put together a solid pitching staff again. Honestly, last summer, they ended up being our strength, which isn't what I thought when it was on paper from what I drafted. We're going to try to do that again."

"I think the biggest thing, and Coach Woodard has already been all over me, is to try to find more pieces that are more high on-base percentage, a little less power, a little more speed," Osterman added. "So, we have some people that those big hitters can drive in. But I think the other thing I did when looking at who to protect is just what group of athletes worked well together, and a core that we can continue to build around year after year."

For Woodard, she is going to lean into her and Osterman's strengths. Woodard will focus on coaching, and trust Osterman to put together a competitive team.

"I'm the coach, and I'm going to do what I need to do with this with the group I'm given to do that with. And I'm going to trust the people in my corner to help with that."

The Expansion Draft will take place on Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. EST on ESPNU, with AUSL Cascade and the Oklahoma City Spark selecting from the unprotected players' pool.

Then the Allocation Draft will immediately follow, with all six teams selecting from the remaining player lists.

However, the GMs and coaches also have to consider how many spots they want to reserve for collegiate players and the collegiate draft.

Osterman has already considered this and has formed a strategy, but recognizes the need to be flexible, as no one knows who will draft whom until it actually happens on Dec. 1.

"I mean, the big thing is we kind of already know where we're seated for the college draft. So we can have a game plan for at least our first pick and then from there be able to draft around thatere be able to draft around that. We do have to leave at least two spots for college athletes.

"So we'll decide as we go through allocation, how many spots we'll leave for that. But, you know, I think this senior class that's getting ready to graduate and come out is so deep with talent. I mean, we could probably sit here, and all of us come up with eight to 10 off the top of our heads that probably should be playing in the league."

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Allison Smith
ALLISON SMITH

Allison Smith is an expert in leadership and organizational behavior in collegiate and professional women’s sports. Smith is a professor (Georgia State University), researcher, and writer. Smith holds a Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee in Kinesiology and Sport Studies. Smith’s research centers on combatting the underrepresentation of women leaders in sport, lack of organizational structure for work life integration for sport employees, and lack of programming and oversight for preparing athletes to transition to life after sport. Since graduating with a bachelor’s in journalism in 2011, Smith has sought opportunities to write about sports as a contributing writer focused on the growth of women’s collegiate, Olympic, and professional sports in this new age and movement for multiple outlets including Athletic Director U, and now Forbes.com. As a former Division I and II pitcher and Division III pitching coach Smith will bring unique insight and expertise to Softball on SI.

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