During the Athletes Unlimited Softball League Allocation Draft, the Oklahoma City Spark brought back four players who wore the uniform during the franchise’s independent era, reuniting familiar faces with the team as it enters the AUSL for the 2026 season.

General Manager Kirk Walker and Head Coach Amber Flores used the Allocation Draft to select catcher Kinzie Hansen, pitcher Maddie Penta, corner infielder Sydney Sherrill, and utility player Haley Lee, all of whom competed for the Spark before the team joined the AUSL. The four players have been a large part of the Spark’s success and helped close out the independent Spark’s final postseason tournament with a championship, going 3-1 in a round-robin format at Oklahoma Christian University last summer.

Kinzie Hansen – Catcher (Round 1, Pick 2)

Hansen returned to Oklahoma City as the Spark’s first selection in the Allocation Draft, going second overall. The four-time national champion from the University of Oklahoma has deep roots in the state and became a fan favorite during her time with the team.

During the 2024 season, Hansen posted a .333 batting average, a .472 on-base percentage and .690 slugging percentage. She tallied three home runs and 11 RBIs across 27 games while serving as a graduate assistant coach on the OU softball staff during the offseason. Hansen helped the Spark win the inaugural Champion Cup in Chattanooga, hitting a home run in her first at-bat.

Hansen’s college career included back-to-back national championships with Oklahoma in 2021 and 2022. She earned NFCA First Team All-American honors in 2023 and won the Johnny Bench Award as the top college softball catcher. Internationally, she won a gold medal at the 2022 World Games, hitting .417 with two doubles and seven runs scored.

Maddie Penta – Right-Handed Pitcher (Round 2, Pick 7)

Penta joined Hansen as an early Allocation Draft selection, going seventh overall in the second round. The Auburn alum finished her collegiate career as the winningest pitcher in program history with a 76-36 record. She carried that success into her pro career, recently helping close out the Spark’s championship run with a dominant complete-game performance in the 2024 title matchup.

In that championship finale against the Florida Vibe, Penta struck out nine batters in a complete game to secure the 8-1 victory. She also earned a win earlier in the tournament, striking out five over 4.2 innings. 

Penta also isn’t new to Athletes Unlimited competition. During the 2024 AU Pro Softball Championship Season (now the AUSL All-Star Cup), Penta made eight appearances with three starts, posting a 2-1 record with a save and a 3.94 ERA while striking out 16 batters over 21.1 innings.

At Auburn, Penta totaled 941 strikeouts over 706.0 innings and became the only pitcher in program history to record three consecutive seasons with 250 or more strikeouts. She was named 2023 SEC Pitcher of the Year and earned consensus All-America honors as a junior. As a senior, she set a school record with 21 strikeouts against UCF in the NCAA Tallahassee Regional and tossed both a perfect game and a no-hitter during the 2024 season.

Sydney Sherrill – Corner Infielder (Round 5, Pick 26)

Sherrill returned to the Spark in the fifth round as the 26th overall pick. The Florida State product delivered one of the biggest hits of the independent Spark’s 2024 championship run, launching a grand slam in the title game to help seal the 8-1 victory over the Florida Vibe.

Sherrill played in 283 games across five seasons at Florida State, posting a .382 career batting average that ranks 10th in program history. She finished with 43 home runs and 209 RBIs, both marking records for third all-time in the Seminoles’ record book. Sherrill holds the Florida State and Atlantic Coast Conference career doubles records with 82 and set the school’s single-game record with three home runs against NC State in 2022.

Sherrill is a three-time ACC Defensive Player of the Year (2019, 2021, 2022), earned NFCA First Team All-American honors in 2019, and helped Florida State win the 2018 NCAA Division I title as a freshman. She was named to the 2018 Women’s College World Series All-Tournament Team after hitting two home runs with seven RBIs. Sherrill appeared in 11 games during the 2022 Athletes Unlimited Championship Season, tallying seven hits in 26 at-bats with three RBIs.

Haley Lee – Utility (Round 6, Pick 31)

Lee joined the Spark roster in the sixth round as the 31st overall selection. She contributed to the independent Spark’s postseason success in 2024 with three RBIs in the opening 13-5 victory over the New York Rise and added a solo home run in the 8-6 comeback win over the Florida Vibe.

Lee finished 16th on the leaderboard during the 2024 Athletes Unlimited Championship Season with 960 points. She posted a .276 batting average with eight hits, including two doubles and a home run, while driving in three runs and scoring four times. Lee was originally selected by the Oklahoma City Spark with the 13th overall pick in the 2023 Women’s Professional Fastpitch Draft and earned All-WPF Team honors after posting a .287 average with five home runs and 19 RBIs.

Lee spent four seasons at Texas A&M before transferring to Oklahoma for her final year, helping the Sooners win the 2023 NCAA Division I title. She finished her college career with a .366 batting average, 61 home runs, and 181 RBIs across 254 games. Lee earned First-Team All-Big 12 honors and multiple All-American distinctions in 2023, and she was named Big 12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player. At Texas A&M, she set single-season school records with 25 home runs and a .955 slugging percentage in 2021, earning Third-Team NFCA All-America recognition.

Siera Jones is the digital media reporter at Athletes Unlimited. You can follow her on Instagram and X @sieraajones.