The Talons are your 2025 inaugural Athletes Unlimited Softball League champions.
After clinching the regular season title, they swept the AUSL Championship presented by Sephora against the Bandits and are closing the inaugural season on top. Their weekend concluded with a storybook ending as hometown hero Montana Fouts earned a complete-game shutout win, defeating the Bandits 1-0 and clinching the first AUSL championship title.
“In the world of softball it was a great day. This league is going up, it’s continuing to rise, and there’s no ceiling. It’s gonna keep growing and keep growing. We’re really proud of the opportunity to be the first champion,” said Head Coach Howard Dobson.
The Talons have traded wins with the Bandits all season long, and they were able to put the exclamation mark on their final series. The importance of pitching this series was top of mind for the Talons, and they were able to successfully hold the Bandits’ explosive offense to just one run all weekend.
The Talons’ momentum and will to win were not stalled by several weather delays throughout the weekend.
“What a day to make history. From having to come back to finish the first game, to come back and do what we did, our pitching staff was unbelievable this weekend, to do that, to that offense is unheard of,” Dobson said.
GAME ONE | TALONS 3 – BANDITS 1
The Talons showed a collective team effort from the pitching staff as Corrick earned her first postseason win and Megan Faraimo claimed the save to hold the Bandits to just one run.
While the Bandits scored first in the top of the fourth with a Bubba Nickles-Camara RBI, the Talons immediately responded as Tori Vidales evened the score with the first home run of the series. With two more runs scored in the bottom of the fifth, the Talons were able to hold on to their lead for the first win of the series.
The win came in an untraditional fashion as the weather ultimately suspended play from Saturday evening until Sunday morning. The start of Game One was originally delayed an hour and 51 minutes, then in the bottom of the sixth by 37 minutes, and ultimately suspended until 10 a.m. CT the next day.
“We had a luxury because we had the lead going into the rain delay, which is really nice because we had the momentum, we shifted and got it over here. We scored the run to tie it. George (Corrick) shuts the door, gets a shutdown inning. We come back and score two more,” Dobson said.
The Talons went to bed on Saturday with the two-run lead (3-1), knowing they would be up to bat when the game resumed play on Sunday morning. Despite delays and anticipation, the Talons were able to grab game one.
GAME TWO | TALONS 1 – BANDITS 0
The Talons left the Bandits responseless as Fouts went the distance for a full seven innings.
Fueled by the crowd in Tuscaloosa, pitching on her former collegiate field, she allowed five hits and earned seven strikeouts. Sydney Romero was the bat that put the Talons on the board in the top of the sixth with her home run in game two. The solo shot was enough to seal the deal for the Talons.
Vidales had a clutch double play via a diving catch in the bottom of the seventh inning that helped extinguish any spark the Bandits were looking to ignite.
The Talons looked as they have all season: aggressive at the plate, solid on defense, and dominant in the circle. Their 20th win of the season made them champions.
“I wouldn’t have wanted to do this anywhere else, with anybody else. I’ve been very fortunate to be with the coaching staff and with the team for a couple months now, and I feel like we really are family. That’s what makes this so special. Obviously, winning is awesome, but I just feel like whenever you step on the field with people like this, you’ve already won,” Fouts said.
Cayla Sweazie is a former collegiate softball player turned sports reporter with a passion for telling the stories of athletes. She is serving as a correspondent for the Talons of the AUSL. You can follow her on Instagram @caysweazie.
