Winters in Ana Gold’s hometown of Ballston Spa, New York, can be unforgiving.
The village of 5,111 people some 30 miles north of Albany has an average high temperature of 31 degrees Fahrenheit in January, and heavy snow is a regular occurrence between December and March. Outdoor sports like softball are not year-round activities in those parts.
Thankfully, all Gold needed to do to work on her craft was walk down a flight of stairs.
In the Golds’ basement sits what Ana called the “hitting lab,” featuring a batting tee, a net and several stations meant to help with specific aspects of a baseball or softball swing.
“It’s basically deliberate practice, where you would maybe just practice certain components of the swing, whether it’s having to do with the lead arm alignment or posture or swing plane,” Ana’s father, Eric Gold, said. “We had different stations set up in the basement that were specific to that component of the swing.”
Ana’s work in that basement led her to a decorated high school career in Ballston Spa, travel ball opportunities up and down the East Coast, and then four excellent years with a young Duke program, which she helped take to heights it had never reached before.
A Golden Ticket recipient and an Athletes Unlimited Softball League College Draft selection by the Blaze in the spring, Ana has remained a force at the plate and in the field as a professional. On Wednesday, she was named the first-ever AUSL Rookie of the Year.
“Everything just feels like it’s clicking right now,” she said. “I’m seeing the ball [well], getting my swings off. You can’t think about every single pitch the pitcher has when you’re up at bat. You have to really look for a strike and get your swing off, and that’s helped me a lot.”
An athletic family
Eric Gold played baseball at Tusculum College, an NCAA Division II program in Tennessee. Ana’s mother, Julie, was a Division III basketball player at Alfred University. So for Ana and her two brothers, Luke and Joseph, sports were a way of life growing up. Luke, two years older than Ana, became a baseball star at Boston College and was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 2022 MLB Draft. He is currently with the Tigers’ High-A affiliate, the West Michigan Whitecaps.
Ana, the middle child, played Little League baseball almost entirely with boys through elementary school, along with basketball and soccer. After playing on travel teams close to home, she attended an event in Boston with Softball Factory, which helps players nationwide receive instruction, as well as college planning and guidance.
That led to an opportunity to play with a club team in South Carolina the following summer, and from there, Ana joined Williamsburg Starz Gold in Virginia, where she met future Blaze teammate Emma Lemley. She played for the nationally recognized Lady Dukes organization for her final travel ball season.
“(Softball Factory) was basically her opportunity to go play in front of the big schools,” Eric said. “That got her out of the area against that level of competition.”
Duke played its first season of varsity softball in 2018 with former Michigan standout Marissa Young as the head coach. Ana committed in September 2019, just a week after her formal recruiting process opened, and by the time she arrived on campus in Durham, the Blue Devils were ready to join the ranks of college softball’s elite.
They were 23-4 in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic halted the season, then won the ACC Tournament and earned their first-ever national seed the following year. A player like Ana was just what Young and her staff needed to push Duke to more greatness.
“When you walk on that campus, you kind of feel the excellence of that place,” Eric said. “We left with plans to go on several other visits, and then on the plane home that evening, she said, ‘I don’t need to go anywhere else. I want to go to Duke.’”
Face of a program
A shortstop throughout high school and travel ball, Gold shifted to third base with the Blue Devils, and she shined both at the hot corner and in the batter’s box. Duke reached its first NCAA Super Regional in her freshman year, earned a top-8 seed when she was a sophomore, then broke through to the Women’s College World Series in 2024.
Gold followed up an outstanding freshman season with an even better sophomore one, with a .436 on-base percentage, .724 slugging percentage, 19 home runs and 56 runs batted in. But as the Blue Devils reached their highest point as a program in her junior year, Gold saw her production slip — most notably with a 251-point drop in her slugging percentage.
“I didn’t really have an outlet. I was all softball, softball, softball. That’s all that was on my mind, 24/7. So when I wasn’t doing well, I just wasn’t great mentally,” Gold said. “My senior year, I took a step back and took everything into perspective. This is a game. It’s supposed to be fun. I should not be putting this much pressure on myself.”
By reading more, diving deeper into her faith, and putting more energy into her relationships outside of softball, Gold began to play more relaxed and free as a senior. It was reflected in her numbers, which more closely resembled her first two seasons. She batted a career-best .333 with 16 homers, both driving in and scoring more than a run per game.
Following a win over Notre Dame on April 17, Gold became the second player to receive a Golden Ticket, letting her know she would be selected in the AUSL College Draft. The first Golden Ticket recipient was her old teammate, Lemley.
Gold did have a few pro softball players to look up to at Duke — Young briefly played in National Pro Fastpitch; Blue Devils pitcher Peyton St. George was a senior when Gold was a freshman and spent three years with Athletes Unlimited; and Talons infielder Sydney Romero was an assistant on Young’s staff in 2023.
“Being able to play with all my role models that I grew up with and these legacy players has been such an honor,” Gold said. “It’s just the best experience I’ve had in my entire life. I’m very grateful for it.”
Blazing a new trail
Gold had shifted back to shortstop for her final season at Duke, and she has played both spots on the left side of the infield in her rookie year with the Blaze. She collected her first two pro hits in the second game of the season, then had a three-hit game on June 14 against the Talons.
The power started to come along a short time later. Gold’s first AUSL home run ended a run-rule win over the Bandits on June 23, and she has hit four more in the second half, including a two-homer night in another win against the Bandits on Tuesday. She took over the fourth spot in the lineup after the Blaze traded Danielle Gibson Whorton on July 11 and has not looked back.
“That’s tough for anybody who plays multiple (positions) to stay dialed in and not miss a beat when they move,” Blaze Head Coach Alisa Goler said. “She’s getting picked apart on film, and she’s still making adjustments at-bat to at-bat or even during an at-bat.”
She has made just one error in the field and has an impressive defensive highlight reel, including one play in which she threw out a runner at first while stumbling and falling to the ground. In addition to being named the league’s top rookie, Gold was named to the All-Defensive Team as a corner infielder, joining Blaze teammates Baylee Klingler and Korbe Otis.
“I’m just ready any second for a ball to be hit at me, to make a great play,” Gold said. “I like to think when I’m on defense, I’m actually on offense. I’m taking the first step, I’m getting the hop I want, and just attacking the ball every pitch.”
Through Tuesday, Gold led the Blaze and was fourth among qualified AUSL hitters with a 1.153 OPS. The next step in her development as a hitter is cutting down on strikeouts — her 18 are the most in the league. But the strike zone is larger at the professional level than in college, and she is already making progress, with just seven of Gold’s strikeouts coming in the second half.
“I wouldn’t say I’m surprised. I’m definitely happy with how I’m doing,” Gold said. “I always want to do better, but it’s just cool to see all my hard work pay off.”
Benjamin Rosenberg is the Blaze beat reporter for the AUSL this season. He has more than seven years of experience covering college, professional and high school softball, and graduated with a degree in journalism from Northwestern University in 2021.
