Success breeds success. 

At least that’s what some captains are hoping as the Athletes Unlimited Softball League conducted its first 2025 All-Star Cup draft on Thursday ahead of the first set of games, Friday-Sunday in Holly Springs, North Carolina, and next Wednesday in Greenville, North Carolina. 

A look at the rosters for the four teams reveals that the AUSL champion Talons and runner-up Bandits valued familiarity in the All-Star Cup draft.

It’s been quite a couple of weeks for pitcher Georgina Corrick, who helped the Talons win both the regular-season title and the Championship. On top of that, she had the first overall pick for Team Purple in the All-Star Cup draft, selecting pitcher Montana Fouts, her teammate on the Talons.

“It’s just been really exciting,” Corrick said. “It’s one of those things where you strap yourself into a snowball and you know that it’s going to keep going and picking up momentum as it goes. That was the exciting part of it, being attached to that and being part of why that thing kept rolling (with the Talons). I know I came in late from my Japanese season. The team meshed really well. That’s what you need for a team sport. You have to have that kind of meshing and the melding of really great minds. I think you had a lot of great minds in the coaching staff and a lot of great minds in the players. It was really great to see that pick up speed as the season went.”

Here are the three biggest takeaways from the first draft of the 2025 AUSL All-Star Cup:

Getting the Band(its) back together

All season long, the Bandits talked of great team chemistry among their squad. They combined that chemistry with great talent to finish the regular season with a 15-9 record. 

Pitcher Lexi Kilfoyl is captain of Team Orange in the All-Star Cup, and she had the third overall pick of the draft. Kilfoyl wasted no time selecting Bandits teammate Taylor McQuillin.

When it was all said and done, Kilfoyl selected nine of her Bandits teammates in the All-Star Cup draft. That included middle infielder Erin Coffel, the AUSL MVP and Hitter of the Year. Coffel was taken in the second round, followed in quick succession by Sydney McKinney, Bubba Nickles-Camarena, Danielle Gibson Whorton and Cori McMillan. Later, Kilfoyl drafted Bandits Mary Iakopo, Bella Dayton and Sarah Willis.

Special mention goes to Team Blue Captain Aleshia Ocasio, who pitched for the Blaze. She selected six of her teammates from the AUSL Regular Season. 

The not-so-odd couples

If you’re looking for interesting pairings, Team Purple has them for you. 

In the fourth and fifth rounds, Corrick drafted Sydney Romero and her sister, Sierra, respectively. Sydney, a middle infielder, played for the Talons while Sierra played for the Volts

“I think it’s definitely familiarity,” Corrick said. “You know that you’re going to play well with girls that you’ve already been playing well with. Especially in the captain’s role, you get to see behind the scenes of how girls react with each other, as well. A big thing for me when I draft is I love to create pairs, to create matchups.

“To get the Romero sisters, that was a big pair that I had my eyes on, that I loved because I know Sydney, and I know playing against Sierra for so long, I love seeing them together. That’s something as a captain, even though Sierra wasn’t on my team, I was really going to try to push for that matchup because I think they bring out the best in each other.”

Team Kilfoyl will feature two players who were traded for each other. Kilfoyl drafted Bandits teammate Gibson Whorton (corner infield) in the fifth round. In the ninth round, Kilfoyl selected pitcher-utility player Devyn Netz. 

It just so happens that on July 11, the Bandits traded Netz to the Blaze for none other than Gibson Whorton. 

The two may have some notes to swap after being swapped for each other. 

Pitching still matters

Captains Corrick, Kilfoyl and Ocasio are all pitchers. Each of them stocked up on pitchers early in the draft. 

After Corrick took Fouts with the first overall pick, Ocasio selected Megan Faraimo, a member of the champion Talons. Kilfoyl quickly snapped up McQuillin, who can work effectively as a starter or as a reliever. Team Gold Captain Amanda Lorenz closed out the second round by taking Rachel Garcia, the mainstay of the Volts during the AUSL season. Lorenz took veteran lefty Keilani Ricketts in the third round. 

Bruce Miles has covered sports in the Chicago area for 46 years, including baseball, hockey, football and Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball. 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 X @brucemiles2112