Kayla Kowalik proved she can do it all – accomplished captain, excellent pitch caller, versatile hitter – and is now the 2025 Athletes Unlimited Softball League All-Star Cup champion. Kowalik finished atop the leaderboard with 1,570 total points.
The catcher finished the season with an 8-2 record, earning a league-leading 1,000 Win Points. She was a captain for three series, and despite changing teams and working with different pitchers every week, Kowalik led teams that continuously found a way to win.
The Kentucky product recorded the best average in the league (.486), logging 17 hits in 35 at-bats. She spread the field with 12 singles, two doubles, a triple, two home runs, and one in the sac fly and sac hit categories. In her 37 plate appearances, Kowalik was struck out only twice.
What put Kowalik over the edge was her ability to be clutch, resulting in a circuit-best 300 MVP points. One of the most notable moments of the season was when Kowalik wore a foul ball off her shin and in the same at-bat, launched a home run. Her grit behind the plate rallied her team over the course of the month-long competition, too.
She is the third position player ever to win in the unique format.
To commemorate her championship, Kowalik will receive a medal designed and hand-fabricated by Lisa Issenberg, founder of Kiitellä, Inc. Kiitellä is a Finnish word meaning “to thank, applaud or praise,” and Issenberg creates awards that are innovative, mixed-media, non-traditional works of art, pieces that celebrate accomplishment, humanity, and philanthropy. Kiitellä is committed to being a responsible steward of our environment, with each step in the process, from design to fabrication to delivery, using minimal energy and material.
Athletes Unlimited will also commission a portrait of Kowalik for its Champions Collection, which features emerging artists whose work and approach speak to the mission and values of Athletes Unlimited. The portrait will be created by Fantasía Ariel, a Chicago-based artist who aims to showcase the delicate nature and importance of storytelling through imagery and especially enjoys portraying women through her drawings and paintings.
2nd-place medalist: Rachel Garcia
Once again, Rachel Garcia medals in the AU Pro Softball format, collecting the fourth of her career with a second-place finish. She is one of only two players in any Athletes Unlimited sport to earn four career
medals.
She made up major ground on the leaderboard after missing two games in Series Two to compete with Team USA at the World Games in Chengdu, China. Garcia returned to competition with a vengeance, finishing the season with a 1.88 ERA in 37.1 innings thrown. She was second in the All-Star Cup in strikeouts (35), threw three complete games, and held batters to a measly .160 batting average.
Garcia won the 2023 AU Pro Softball AUX title as well, finished in second in 2022, and also posted a fourth-place finish in the 2023 Championship Season.
3rd-place medalist: Keilani Ricketts
Southpaw pitcher Keilani Ricketts rose through the leaderboard ranks to become a captain in the final series and finished as the third-place medalist. In her debut in the role, she led her team to a 2-1 record.
In the circle, she had the league-best ERA of 1.56 with a 2-0 record and 27.0 total innings. She struck out nine batters, walked just two, and gave up only two home runs in a league full of power hitters.
Ricketts was voted in two games and was consistently on winning squads. Her 820 win points tied for third-best in the league. Ricketts is a veteran within the league with over a decade of experience at the professional level.
4th-place medalist: Erin Coffel
Along with her AUSL regular season MVP nod and the Hitter of the Year award, Coffel now claims her first All-Star Cup medal with a fourth-place finish.
Coffel hit for power throughout the 10 games, launching two home runs, a triple, and a double for a 1.180 OPS. She brought in eight runs for her teams, recording a .696 slugging percentage. Coffel padded her 232 stat points with 850 win points and 80 MVP points.
Impact Award: Bubba Nickles-Camarena
Bubba Nickles-Camarena received the 2025 AUSL All-Star Cup Impact Award, which recognizes an athlete for their civic leadership efforts both on and off the field. Nickles-Camarena supported Athletes in Action as part of the Athlete Causes program, which provides capital and a fundraising platform for our athletes to play for the causes they care about most. Athletes Unlimited, powered by Give Lively and the Give Lively Foundation, makes a grant equal to 100% of the athlete’s win bonus to the non-profit of the athlete’s choice.
“I hope my platform can show other athletes and coaches the beauty of having their purpose and identity rooted in something greater than superficial things,” Nickles-Camarena said.
The AUSL is part of Athletes Unlimited (AU), which was co-founded in 2020 by Jon Patricof (who also serves as CEO) and Jonathan Soros, and led by Commissioner Kim Ng. AUSL advisors include softball legends Jennie Finch, Jessica Mendoza, Cat Osterman and Natasha Watley.
“Congratulations to Kayla Kowalik on winning the AUSL All-Star Cup and to Bubba Nickles-Camarena for being recognized with the AUSL Impact Award,” Ng said. “This has been a truly incredible summer of softball, and everyone associated with the AUSL is committed to building on this momentum during the offseason to come back bigger and better in 2026.”
Savanna Collins is the Senior Reporter for the AUSL. You can follow her on X @savannaecollins.
