AUSL Announces 9 Players Signed for Inaugural Season
Nine players have signed for the inaugural season of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL). Launching in June 2025, the AUSL is a professional women’s softball league featuring four teams playing a 30-game season in a traditional format.
The first wave of athletes includes Olympic Silver Medalist and 2022 AU Pro Softball Champion Dejah Mulipola and 2023 Defensive Player of the Year Jessi Warren. Veteran pros Carley Hoover, Anissa Urtez, Morgan Zerkle, and Jessi Warren are also among the eligible players. Erin Coffel, Payton Gottshall, and Kayla Kowalik round out the group, all coming off their first season with AU in 2024.
The general managers of the four teams will assemble the inaugural rosters at the AUSL Allocation Draft, which will take place in early 2025. A college draft will also be held later in the spring, allowing each team to fill out its final roster spots. Details regarding both drafts will be announced at a later date.
These first nine players begin the creation of the player pool eligible for the AUSL Allocation Draft:
Dejah Mulipola, Catcher
The 2022 AU Pro Softball Champion Dejah Mulipola makes her return, headlining the group of elite athletes to commence the AUSL. Mulipola is a product of the Arizona Wildcats where she was a three-year starter as a catcher and named the 2019 Johnny Bench Catcher of the Year. While in college, Mulipola was named to the Team USA roster and competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics where she helped the team earn a silver medal. Mulipola has been a successful fixture for the national team on the international stage, earning a gold medal at the 2022 Pan American Championship and the 2022 World Games.
Mulipola made AU history in 2022 by becoming the first position player to win an individual title. She also became the first player to lead the league in batting average (.432), home runs (9), and runs batted in (19) during the same season.
Carley Hoover, Pitcher
Hoover is a newcomer to AU but no stranger to the pro game at the top level. Hoover is a right-handed pitcher who has played for six years in the Japan Diamond Softball League – a top softball league in Japan and one of the best in the world. She has played for Denso Bright Pegasus her entire career overseas and was named the Player of the Year in 2022. That season she led the league with 18 wins, recording 198 strikeouts and a 1.66 ERA during 152 innings of work.
Hoover is from Clemson, South Carolina, and a graduate of LSU. She was a two-time All-American and ranks in the top five in Tigers’ program history with 71 wins, 754 strikeouts, a .195 opponent’s batting average, 66 complete games, and 10 career saves.
Morgan Zerkle, Outfielder
Outfielder Morgan Zerkle is one of the most consistent hitters in the pro game. She has been a part of AU since its inception in 2020 and her name is scattered across the record books. She is one of four athletes to reach 100 career hits and holds the all-time lead with 119. She has appeared in all 75 possible Championship Season contests. She’s in the top five in career batting average (.345), stolen bases (17), and runs (49). Zerkle is the head coach softball coach at her alma mater, Marshall University.
Jordan Roberts, Catcher
Catcher Jordan Roberts has competed for her entire pro career with AU, finishing in the top 20 on the final leaderboard in five different seasons. Roberts has a career batting average of .237 and a .402 slugging percentage in 92 games. Roberts served as the catcher and called Megan Faraimo’s no-hitter on August 6, 2023. She was a four-year letter winner for the University of Florida and is the Gators’ career leader with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage, recording no errors in 676 chances.
Jessi Warren, Corner Infielder
Jessie Warren is one of the best third basemen in the world and a veteran pro. She has an AU career .944 fielding percentage in 81 games at the hot corner. Warren has competed for four years with AU and is a back-to-back AUX competition’s Defensive MVP and the 2023 Defensive Player of the Year.
Warren played for the USSSA Pride for four years and helped lead the team to two titles. She was awarded the Rawlings Gold Glove in 2019. She also represented Team USA at the 2024 WBSC World Cup where the team won a silver medal. She was an All-World Team selection with her .444 batting average, starting all six games.
Kayla Kowalik, Catcher/Outfielder
As a second-year pro, Kayla Kowalik showcased her defensive versatility during the 2024 AUX and Championship season. Kowalik was a starter in 13-of-14 games at the Championship season in the outfield and as a catcher. This was especially impressive because it was Kowalik’s first summer competing at AU and she continuously worked her way into lineups. She posted a .333 batting average with 14 hits, including two doubles and a triple. She is one of five players in the league to register two sacrifice bunts. Kowalik played the 2023 season in the Women’s Professional Fastpitch League with the USSSA Pride after completing her college career at Kentucky.
Erin Coffel, Middle Infielder
Erin Coffel made a smooth transition to the pro level in her rookie year, starting in all 15 games in the 2024 Championship Season. The Kentucky Wildcat alum finished eighth overall on the leaderboard, tying for fifth in stat points amongst 60 athletes. She logged seven hits in 36 at-bats, including five extra-base hits, and tied for the league lead with three homers. Her .528 slugging percentage was fourth-best and she had a .916 OPS mark. Coffel was also named to the All-Defensive Team. She has been a national team member since 2023, playing in two consecutive Japan All-Star Series and earning a gold medal at the 2023 Pan American Games.
Anissa Urtez, Middle Infielder
A longtime member of Team Mexico and standout middle infielder, Anissa Urtez enters her ninth year as a pro. Urtez competed on Team Mexico for six years from 2016 to 2021 and helped Team Mexico qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She was 6-for-20 in six games in Tokyo, blasting two home runs, including the first in the team’s Olympic history. At AU, Urtez has consistently finished in the top half of the leaderboard since its inaugural season. She was the 2021 Defensive Player of the Year.
Payton Gottshall, Pitcher
Right-handed pitcher Payton Gottshall made her rookie debut at the AUX season in Wichita, Kansas. She emerged as one of the top relief pitchers in the league, setting the AUX single-season record with three saves. She appeared in eight games and authored a 4.30 earned run average with eight strikeouts over 14.2 innings. She also played in the Championship Season in Rosemont, Illinois. Her ERA improved to 3.57, throwing in six games with three starts across 15.2 innings. Gottshall was a two-year letter winner at Tennessee after three seasons at Bowling Green.
Stay tuned for details regarding the Allocation and College Drafts, which will be announced at a later date.
Savanna Collins is the Senior Reporter at Athletes Unlimited. You can follow her on Twitter @savannaecollins.
