Former Utah Softball Legend Returns Home Before Retiring From AUSL

When the Blaze and Talons of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) face off in a four-game series in Salt Lake City, Utah, this week, one player will be reminiscing on where it all began for her.

Blaze infielder Anissa Urtez announced on Instagram on Sunday that after nine years as a professional, she will hang up her cleats. There’s no better way for her to say goodbye to the game than at the Dumke Family Softball Stadium at the University of Utah, the place that molded her into the athlete she is today.

As a three-time All-Pac 12 Conference honoree and a First-Team All-Pac 12 selection, Urtez played in 219 collegiate games from 2014-17, compiling a .357 career batting average with 15 home runs and 163 runs batted in. She ranked third on the Utes’ career doubles and runs batted-in lists. As a junior, she led the league with 12 doubles and ranked sixth with 70 hits.

At 30 years old, she contemplated retiring before this season. But when she saw that the AUSL would be adopting a traveling format for its inaugural year and that the University of Utah was one of the stops, she knew she had to be a part of the action.

“I was fully ready to be done before the season even started, and then Utah got announced, at Dumke Family Softball Stadium, and I’m just thinking in my head, ‘Whoa, it couldn’t be more perfect, more meant to be,’” Urtez told Benjamin Rosenberg, the Blaze beat reporter for the AUSL. “I’m so excited that my teammates get to experience the atmosphere, get to experience the fans, because they’re amazing. I love playing at this field, and it’s home for me. This is where I’ve been able to build my career.”

Urtez was a massive piece in the Utes reaching back-to-back NCAA Super Regional appearances in 2016 and 2017, and went on to experience all levels of the professional landscape. Out of college, her journey began with the Scrap Yard Dawgs of the National Pro Fastpitch and then the Cleveland Comets. In 2020, she transitioned to Athletes Unlimited while also competing for the Toda Medics in the Japan Diamond League. She also represented Team Mexico in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Anissa Urtez (@nniiiss_ )
-2nd Team All P12#GoUtes #UteFamily pic.twitter.com/jKn2wdgAnv
— Utah Softball (@Utah_Softball) May 15, 2017

While Urtez will have another week of playing softball before she officially wraps up her career, this upcoming set of games will mean the most to her and her family. You can catch Urtez’s homecoming on ESPN2 on Wednesday, MLB Network on Thursday, and MLB.com on Friday and Saturday.