It’s been quite a few weeks for catcher Kayla Kowalik. 

She finished the inaugural Athletes Unlimited Softball League season as a member of the Blaze and then went right into the All-Star Cup, where she was a sixth-round pick of Team Gold and captain Amanda Lorenz in Series 1. 

Since then, Kowalik has vaulted right to the top. She found herself a first-time captain for this past week’s set of games, and she hasn’t let go. After guiding her team to two wins in Rosemont, Illinois, Kowalik found herself atop the individual leaderboard with 860 points. That earned her a second shot at being captain of Team Gold for games in Rosemont on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. 

“It’s definitely crazy and something I’m super grateful for,” she said. “It wasn’t a position I necessarily expected going into the season, but I think it’s a great learning experience and a really cool opportunity. It’s definitely been a whirlwind. It’s been awesome.”

So has her performance on the field. Kowalik has earned four MVP honors, including three consecutive MVP 1 honors in the All-Star Cup season. She has three consecutive multi-hit games and has driven in the game-winning run in all four of her games this season. 

Kowalik has gone 9-for-15 at the plate for a slash line of .600/.600/.1.000 for an OPS of 1.600. She has a double, a triple, a home run and five RBIs. 

She was joined in the captains’ chairs this week by Devyn Netz, Danieca Coffey and Keilani Ricketts, all of whom were teammates of hers in the most recent series. That made things slightly bittersweet for Kowalik, who would love to have kept her team together.

“It was so bittersweet just because I was playing with some of my best friends,” she said. “Maybe we’ll see them down in the next stretch.”

Here are three top takeaways from the current stretch:

They’re baaaaaack

The AUSL All-Star Cup featured only three teams, as opposed to the usual four, for the most recent set of games because 12 players were in China for the World Games. 

Those players are back home and ready to compete in Series 3. Captains had to factor that into their decision-making for this series’ draft.

“Yes and no,” Kowalik said. “It definitely adds a lot of thoughts to who you want on your team. We added a whole other team this week, so I feel like I got babied a little bit my first time being a captain because we just had three teams. So this was the first time like ‘real deal’ drafting with everybody back in the league. It changes a little bit because, obviously, they’re great competitors and you want them on your team.

“But you also have to take into account who’s been grinding this week and who looks really good. It changed a little bit, but for the most part, we’re pretty solid.”

Get it before it’s gone

Not surprisingly, pitching was scooped up quickly in the early rounds. Lexi Kilfoyl, freshly back from China, was taken No. 1 overall by Netz’s Team Purple. Rachel Garcia, also a pitcher for Team USA, went second to Coffey’s Team Blue. Montana Fouts, who pitched for Kowalik on Team Gold this week, was the third overall pick, taken by Ricketts (herself a pitcher) for Team Orange. 

Just as she did last week, Kowalik took infielder and AUSL MVP Erin Coffel with her first-round pick. Pitchers Megan Faraimo and Georgina Corrick went in the second round to Team Netz and Team Kowalik, respectively.

Team ties – with a twist

Three of this week’s captains – Netz, Ricketts and Kowalik played for the Blaze during the AUSL season.

Things got interesting with Netz, who began the AUSL season with the Bandits before being traded to the Blaze in July. In addition to Kilfoyl, Netz drew on her Bandits ties to select pitcher Taylor McQuillin, middle infielder Sydney McKinney, outfielder Morgan Zerkle, catcher Mary Iakopo, and outfielder Bella Dayton, all of whom played for the Bandits. 

Kowalik drew upon her Blaze experience to select pitchers Alana Vawter and Aleshia Ocasio, middle infielder Aubrey Leach, outfielder Korbe Otis and outfielder McKenzie Clark, who also spent time with the Volts. 

The Blaze finished fourth in AUSL with a record of 7-17, but the team won league-wide respect for its competitiveness and chemistry. 

“I think chemistry is something that builds a great softball team,” Kowalik said. “You play with your people all summer, and you know what they can do. We had so many phenomenal athletes on our team despite our record. Just because we lost a couple games this season does not mean that we are bad ballplayers. We have some girls who can absolutely ball.

“You add the chemistry that you’ve had all summer, and it makes it even better.”

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