How the AUSL Blaze Plans to Build a Championship-Worthy Roster Around a Veteran Pitcher

AUSL Blaze softball poses for a fun picture during the 2025 season. | AUSL

The AUSL Blaze had plenty of individuals to celebrate in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League's inaugural season but with a record of 7-17, the team finished in last place out of four teams.

General manager Dana Sorensen is back for a second season and is turning to Kara Dill to lead the Blaze in 2026. The head coach at Division I program Texas-Arlington served on the coaching staff as an associate head coach in 2025.

This announcement comes alongside several changes in leadership across the league for the 2026 season.

We are stoked 😏 to announce that Kara Dill has been promoted to Head Coach ahead of the 2026 season 🔥@Kara_Dill previously served as the Associate Head Coach of the Blaze in our inaugural season and is the head coach of the @UTAMavsSB

🔗 https://t.co/JF6kLQWr6y pic.twitter.com/3YvnfBMvpW

— blaze | athletes unlimited softball league (@AUSL_Blaze) November 24, 2025

Dill, along with Sorensen, has already secured and announced their protected players ahead of the AUSL Expansion Draft on Dec. 1.

According to the Blaze leadership, the protected players will provide diversity offensively and defensively. With standouts like 2025 Rookie of the Year Ana Gold, and senior leadership in the middle infield from Aubrey Leach, to a steady presence behind the plate and at the plate from Kayla Kowalik, and offensive power from Baylee Klinger.

Blaze Building Around Veteran Experience and Leadership

Sorensen candidly explained during a recent Zoom interview that the Blaze is strategically building around their veteran arm in Keilani Ricketts.

Ricketts was a powerhouse collegiate pitcher for the Oklahoma Sooners and has played professionally for over a decade. She has also represented the United States, winning gold in the Pan American Games in 2011 and 2019.

Keilani Ricketts speaks after a press conference for the 2020 U.S. Olympic softball team at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2019. [Bryan Terry/The Oklahoman] | BRYAN TERRY / USA TODAY NETWORK

"When you look at her in-depth numbers, she's a really difficult pitcher to barrel up," Sorensen said about Ricketts. "Perhaps, she doesn't get maybe the same swing and miss numbers or the same strikeout numbers from when she was in her college years. But, you look at her opponent's batting average and the slugging percentage, and it's ridiculously low. I think that speaks to the uniqueness of her arm and how the ball plays and moves. She's a difficult pitcher to figure out."

Ricketts is a crafty left-handed pitcher with lethal combination of a rise ball and a dramatic drop ball.

"She's a presence out there in her size; she mixes speeds, and I think she has a unique movement profile," Sorensen added. "From that perspective, I don't think there's another Keilani Ricketts in the league, or that I can go get a lefty with that experience."

Furthermore, Sorensen will be looking to Ricketts to once again provide the level head and temperament for her roster.

"She's the mom on the team, the GM added. "You know, her daughter travels with us. I think she just provides a lot of perspective and balance. What I really appreciate about Keilani is that she never gets too high and she never really gets too low. She's pretty consistent in who she is. And, you know, at the end of the day, win or lose, she's got to go be a mom. And I think in this league where it's so competitive and, you know, the talent is so evenly dispersed, having that level-minded person out there that you can always look to is a huge value."

Blaze Positioning a Pitching Arsenal for a Successful 2026 Season

Sorensen reiterated that Ricketts is the nucleus of the pitching staff, but that she will clearly need other arms to complement her. Despite not knowing who will be left on her own roster or available in the allocation draft after the two expansion teams select players, Sorensen has a clear strategy.

"I believe in diverse pitching arms," Sorensen explained. "You need to have diversity because if you keep throwing the same thing to them, they're going to figure it out. These are the best hitters in the world.

"I would love five Keilani Ricketts,  she can go the drop ball. She can go to the off-speed. She can mix that little rise ball in;  she's got a little arm-side action to her. So, can we complement with a power rise ball pitcher? Do we have somebody that's going to come and go to the top half of the zone, or a right-handed option who has a little bit more glove-side command?

"How can I get a pitcher to complement that of a Keilan Ricketts or that of a Carley Hoover, if she stays on our roster, so that we're giving a different look at a time in the lineup that is really important in terms of the turn of the game. I certainly see Keilani as a major, major contributor, but I want to do my due diligence and complement her with as many pieces as I can in the pitching rotation."

Blaze Draft Strategies and Additional Players Under Consideration

Beyond Ricketts and the other four protected players, Sorsensen understands that her roster is loaded with talent.

Particularly, Korbe Otis, a former Florida Gator who had a superb first year in the AUSL, hitting .346 with a slugging percentage of .500.

.@korbeotis just doing what Korbe Otis DOES

RBI single for the rook! 💅 pic.twitter.com/r2hAe6RCQD

— blaze | athletes unlimited softball league (@AUSL_Blaze) June 15, 2025

However, Sorensen has already processed the gamemanship of the draft with the expansion teams drafting five players from the unprotected pool first.

"I mean, if I could protect all of them, I would have," Sorensen said about last year's squad. "And the right answer is I don't want to lose any of them. But Korbe, I mean, is there a more confident, secure athlete on the field than Korbe Otis? In this league, you have to be confident, and she has it. She has that intangible; no amount of failure gets to her. She is as resilient as they come. I would absolutely love it if Korbe Otis could stay on our team."

While Sorensen is trying to figure out the best moves for the Blaze, she did acknowledge that she is trying to think like the other GM's.

"What will be interesting is the gamesmanship of it, right? Where are the two expansion teams going to go after their first five? What are their positional needs, and what do we anticipate they think they're going to get? If they go get three pitchers out of their first five, do I think they're going to go get a fourth pitcher? Probably not, right? And so then that'll kind of direct me a little bit in where I think I'm going to go," Sorensen said.

"I don't want to lose any of them, but I have to be strategic in trying to figure out what the other teams are going to do with their selections. And that's what I think puts us in an interesting position, because we're so heavy with pitchers in our unprotected group that I think hopefully it gives me a little bit of an advantage to kind of predict what might happen in the rounds going forward."

For fans who want to tune in to see how the Blaze and its strategy unfolds, the Expansion Draft will take place on Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. EST on ESPNU, followed directly by the Allocation Draft for all six teams.

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