Catcher Sharlize Palacios has signed with the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) for its inaugural season. The AUSL is a professional women’s softball league featuring four teams playing in a traditional format. The league will begin play this summer.
Palacios is coming off a stellar rookie year with AU after competing in the 2024 Championship Season. She ranked seventh in the league in total stat points because of her explosive offensive production. She batted .233 with 10 hits in 43 at-bats and recorded a .488 slugging percentage. Of all hitters, she was second in the RBI category with 12.
She was selected in the 2024 AU Pro Softball College Draft after concluding her collegiate career with two seasons at UCLA. Before that, Palacios played three seasons at Arizona. She started 228 games and posted a .338 batting average with 69 home runs and 218 RBIs.
Palacios competed with Team USA at the 2022 Canada Cup and the 2022 Japan All-Star Series. She is the sister of AU catcher Sashel Palacios, who competed with the league since its inaugural season in 2020 before retiring this summer.
The general managers of the four teams will assemble the inaugural rosters at the AUSL Inaugural Draft, which will take place on January 29th.
Savanna Collins is the Senior Reporter at Athletes Unlimited. You can follow her on Twitter @savannaecollins.
