After a nine-year career, middle infielder Anissa Urtez will retire from professional softball at the conclusion of the 2025 Athletes Unlimited Softball League All-Star Cup season.
She competed with Team Mexico from 2016 to 2021, winning a silver medal at the 2017 Pan American Games and 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games. Urtez helped Mexico Softball qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the team’s first Olympic bid. She was 6-for-20 with four RBIs in six games in Tokyo, blasting two home runs that were the first in the team’s Olympic history.
Urtez has been a competitor in Athletes Unlimited since its inception in 2020. She has played in every Championship Season (now known as the All-Star Cup) and is a two-time member of the All-Defensive Team. In 2021, she was recognized as the Defensive Player of the Year. She also played professionally in the National Pro Fastpitch league and the Japan Diamond League.
From Long Beach, Calif., Urtez was selected in the fifth round by the Blaze in the AUSL Allocation Draft. She finished the inaugural season with a slash line of .255 average, .271 on-base percentage, and .340 slugging percentage.
Urtez spent her collegiate career at the University of Utah. She compiled a .357 career batting average with 15 home runs and 163 runs batted in, ranking third on the Utes’ career doubles and runs batted in lists.
Savanna Collins is the Senior Reporter for the AUSL. You can follow her on X @savannaecollins.