Amber Fiser has made a triumphant return to Athletes Unlimited.
Look no further than this past Sunday at the Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont, Illinois.
Pitching for the Chicago Bandits after being selected from the Reserve Athlete Pool, Fiser took her position in the circle, hoping to help her team snap a four-game losing streak to begin the season.
Fiser weathered a rocky first inning, holding the Oklahoma City Spark to two runs and then dousing the Spark after her Bandits teammates gave her the lead on the way to an 11-3 run-rule victory.
When the game ended, Fiser had pitched all six innings, throwing 111 pitches and giving up six hits and three runs (one earned) as she improved her record to 1-1 with a 2.15 ERA.
A performance like that can turn a struggling team into a confident one.
“It was my first time playing on our field at home,” Fiser said. “It’s on turf. It’s a little different. Maybe some errors happened. I could have had some better pitches. But it wasn’t going to set the tone for the rest of the game. There was a lot of game left; just got to go forward.
“They (the Spark) have a really good team and a very tough lineup. So I knew it was going to be a really hard game. I felt like I had to focus even that much more and lock in. So yeah, I just went out there and had fun.”
This is Fiser’s second go-around with Athletes Unlimited, and first in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League. She joined AU as a rookie out of Minnesota in 2021 for the points-based Championship Season (now All-Star Cup), making seven appearances and working 12.2 innings. She also got to watch, learn and pick the brains of pitchers such as Cat Osterman, Danielle O’Toole, Haylie Wagner and Taylor McQuillin, who is a current teammate on the Bandits.
“Honestly, I was fan-girling most of the time,” Fiser said. “I couldn’t wait to just come in here and watch them throw and learn from them. I truly was a sponge my first year. I just wanted to ask them how their brain thinks, how their pitches move, what kind of grips they use, things like that. Even their mentality, because they’re so good out there at what they do and the confidence they have in themselves and how they carry themselves.
“I thought it was something that was very inspiring. ‘Tay’ (McQuillin) is still here, and she and I have become very close again. It’s just really cool to be able to work together and bounce ideas off of each other and see each other succeed.”
Fiser left for other opportunities in pro softball after that season and pitched for the Spark in a different league in 2024 and 2025
So what brings her back?
“I’ve stayed really close with a lot of the girls who are here in the league,” she said. “I just love how much the game is growing and how much they’re investing in women’s sports. Just everything that comes along with it is absolutely incredible, and I want to be a part of it again.”
Fiser has the perspective of time and distance, having been away from AU for several years. The league she returned to has changed and grown, both on and off the field.
“I think it’s just the amount of investment that we’ve gotten,” she said. “I think that Kim (Commissioner Ng), who came in, made a huge difference in this league, the MLB partnership, and now we’ve got Sephora (as a sponsor). The TV, the ESPN. Just seeing how much it’s grown in such a short amount of time, I think, is a big difference in what the league is.
“Just how the athletes are being taken care of with treatments and things like that, helping our bodies stay very healthy, helping us stay at our highest level at all times, keeping the game very competitive. And I think the destinations are really a fun part of it. Teams have a home field now, not just Chicago.”
Part of being from the Reserve Pool means that an athlete can be playing for one team one week and another the following week. Rosters are sure to be in flux within a week, when players return to AUSL from their commitments in Japan. Fiser isn’t letting the uncertainty get to her.
“It can be scary at times, but it’s your perspective on it,” she said. “Yeah, I could be done Sunday, but at the end of the day, I’m making the most of any chance that I get. It doesn’t matter what team I’m on. I’m going to go out there and give my best no matter what. You’ve just got to be grateful, and if you look at it in a negative way, then it might catch up to you. I don’t want that to happen. Just grateful that this team believes in me right now and wants me to be here.”
Fiser’s performance this past Sunday could be an eye-opener, both for the Bandits and other teams around the league. She drew praise from head coach Shonda Stanton after her strong performance.
“Fiser is a competitor,” Stanton said. “You can see that from the jump. We really appreciate her competitive spirit and her competitive fight.”
As for what the future holds, Fiser said she hopes to pitch as long as her body allows her to pitch. She also will be the pitching coach at the University of Tulsa. Until then, she expressed happiness at being back where her pro career started.
“Just absolutely so honored, genuinely,” she said. “Being able to compete at this level and being one of 80-some players being lucky to represent in this entire country is something I’ll never forget. I’m very honored. It’s really good when people believe in you and what you’ve done and say, ‘You deserve to be here and be a part of it.’ I’m just making the most of any chance that I get. It’s something I’ll always remember.”
Bruce Miles has covered sports in the Chicago area for 47 years, including baseball, hockey, football and Athletes Unlimited Softball League. He covered the Chicago Cubs in their historic run to the World Series title in 2016. He has written stories for Athletes Unlimited since 2020.
Follow Bruce on Bluesky @brucemiles2112.bsky.social and on X @brucemiles2112
