The Blaze’s Opening Day roster includes three former NCAA champions, defensive standouts all over the diamond, and lots and lots of speed — as if general manager Dana Sorensen was trying to craft the roster fit for the team’s name.
Sorensen and head coach Alisa Goler want the pitchers to be ready for specific in-game situations, while the lineup may be constructed differently on a game-to-game basis, especially early in the season.
Here are the 16 players who will be active on Opening Day, Saturday, June 7, against the Volts in Wichita, Kan.
Catcher (2): Taylor Edwards, Kayla Kowalik
Edwards, who has played in Athletes Unlimited for five years and is a veteran on the roster, may have to carry the load early in the year. She is an excellent defender and has shown signs of being one of the league’s better power hitters. Kowalik, an assistant coach at Texas Tech, just joined the Blaze after her Red Raiders reached the Women’s College World Series finals. She’s a utility asset for the Blaze who can play different positions depending on where she’s needed.
Corner infield (2): Danielle Gibson Whorton, Baylee Klingler
The Blaze may not hit for much power this season, but an outsize portion of their home runs will likely come from this duo. Gibson Whorton is back after taking last year off to have her first child in November 2024, and is the all-time RBI leader in Arkansas program history. Klingler comes from a family full of athletes, and while her power has not yet shown up in the pros the way it did at Washington, she has a complete offensive profile.
Middle infield (3): Ana Gold, Aubrey Leach, Anissa Urtez
Gold, a rookie out of Duke, played both shortstop and third base in college and is the Blue Devils’ all-time home run leader. Leach is one of the Blaze’s veterans and just joined the team after helping her alma mater, Tennessee, advance to the WCWS semifinals as an assistant coach. She is one of the top speed threats on a roster full of them. Urtez is a defensive wizard up the middle, and her bat has been steady throughout her five years playing with AU.
Outfield (4): Aliyah Andrews, Ciara Briggs, Kalei Harding, Korbe Otis
While four outfielders may not provide much depth, the 24-game season means it’s unlikely players will wear down too much. Andrews was a human highlight reel in center field at LSU and has continued her defensive prowess as a pro. Briggs also played college ball in Baton Rouge, where she was a graduate assistant this spring. Harding drove in 17 runs in just 12 games as a rookie last year in the AUX season. Otis, a rookie out of Florida, is coming off a WCWS run with the Gators and won the NCAA Elite 90 award with the highest GPA of any player on the eight WCWS teams.
Pitchers (5): Emma Lemley, Brooke McCubbin, Aleshia Ocasio, Keilani Ricketts, Hope Trautwein-Valdespino
Ricketts is the lone left-hander on the pitching staff and the Blaze’s stateswoman, having led Oklahoma to the 2013 national title as a senior. Trautwein-Valdespino also won a championship in Norman in 2022, joining the Sooners for her final college season after starring at North Texas. She and McCubbin, a rookie out of Clemson, are holding down roster spots until Carley Hoover and Alana Vawter return after the first half of the Japan Diamond Softball League season. Ocasio, a former NCAA champion at Florida, is the lone true two-way player with the Blaze. Lemley was the Blaze’s first-round pick in the AUSL College Draft out of Virginia Tech.
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.
