Sami Williams’ offensive performance this season has already been one for the record books.
The Chicago Bandits carry the league’s longest active winning streak into the final stretch of the regular season, with Williams acting as the engine behind one of the hottest offenses in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League. Through 18 games, the third baseman leads the league in doubles (8), RBIs (30), slugging percentage (1.078) and OPS (1.609), and stands tied for first with 24 hits while tied atop the home run leaderboard with Maya Brady and Megan Grant with seven blasts.
Last week, Williams etched her name into league history by surpassing Erin Coffel’s single-season RBI record with her 29th RBI. She has since extended the mark to 30, a total that is already 10 ahead of the league’s next-closest hitter, Sydney Romero (20), and more than three times the second-highest RBI total on the Bandits roster, where Mac Barbara sits with nine.
Williams is averaging 1.33 hits and 1.67 RBIs per game, but those numbers only tell part of the story. Here’s a closer look at how she’s become the most productive hitter in the AUSL.
Keeping the Party Going
If there’s one thing Williams is going to do offensively, it’s keep the party going.
The Bandits’ lineup has become one of the most dangerous in the league because hitters consistently pass the baton, and Williams has made a habit of opening the floodgates and extending rallies.
Of Williams’ 24 hits, 17 have come after at least one teammate had already recorded a hit in the inning, meaning nearly 70 percent of her hits have extended rallies that were already underway. Nine of those hits came immediately after a teammate’s hit, allowing the Bandits to string together productive at-bats.
She’s also shown she can ignite rallies herself, as seven of her hits this season have been the Bandits’ first hit of an inning.
Her impact has become even more evident during Chicago’s current seven-game winning streak.
Since the Bandits’ series-clinching win over the Spark on June 28, Williams is batting .444 (8-for-18) with a .667 on-base percentage, 1.111 slugging percentage and a staggering 1.778 OPS. She has scored eight runs, collected three doubles and three home runs, driven in 16 RBIs, drawn three walks, been hit by a pitch once, and struck out just five times in her last 24 plate appearances.
Those 16 RBIs account for more than half of her season total.
“I think we just feed off each other,” Williams said of the Bandits lineup. “When someone gets on, you want to keep it going. You don’t want to be the one who ends the inning.”
That mentality has helped transform the Bandits from a slow-starting club into the hottest team in the AUSL in the final weeks of the postseason race.
More Than Just Power
Williams may be leading the Bandits in home runs, but she’s not just a power hitter.
Her 24 hits have included eight doubles, one triple and seven home runs, meaning 16 of her 24 hits (exactly two-thirds) have been for extra bases. Meanwhile, eight of her hits have been singles.
That balance has helped produce a league-best 1.078 slugging percentage and proves that Williams can beat opposing defenses in virtually every possible way. She has driven balls into the gaps, launched home runs to left, left-center, right-center, and center field, recorded key sacrifice flies, and drawn six walks, proving herself as a multi-dimensional hitter.
Williams credits much of that versatility to the work she puts in before games.
Rather than repeating the same drills every day, she intentionally changes her routines to prepare for different counts, pitch locations, and game situations so her body never becomes comfortable reacting to just one look.
“I don’t want my body to get used to one movement,” Williams said. “If I’m always practicing the same thing, then I’m only prepared for one pitch or one situation.”
That variety in her training regimen has translated directly to games, where opposing pitchers have struggled to find a consistent way to attack her.
Preparation Meets Perspective
Williams describes herself as an overthinker.
She values scouting reports, analytics and film study, but she’s also learned that once she steps into the batter’s box, her best moments come when her mind is quiet.
She knows that in some ways, softball is a game of luck. A screaming line drive can find the perfect patch of outfield grass one inning and a defender’s glove the next, and Williams is okay with that.
Rather than allowing those results to impact her confidence, Williams has learned to trust the work she puts in before first pitch.
“You can hit the ball really hard right at somebody,” she said. “If I prepared the right way and put a good swing on it, that’s really all I can control.”
That mindset has allowed Williams to swap meticulous preparation for freedom once the game begins.
“A lot of this game is out of your control and it’s kind of luck,” she said. “It’s kind of like it’s a combo of luck and preparation. So yeah, I’m not trying to overthink it, and you know, being appreciative when I get a good spot from a pitcher.”
The result of her approach has been one of the most dominant offensive seasons the AUSL has seen.
Williams has already rewritten the league’s RBI record while leading nearly every major offensive category, and carved out a role as one of the most effective rally-builders in the AUSL.
As Chicago rides a seven-game winning streak toward the postseason, no hitter has done more to keep the Bandits’ rallies alive than Williams.
Siera Jones is the digital media reporter at Athletes Unlimited. You can follow her on Instagram and X @sieraajones.
