Ahead of the inaugural season of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL), league reporter Savanna Collins sat down with each of the four general manager and head coach pairs. This edition features Volts General Manager Cat Osterman and Head Coach Kelly Kretschman.

Kelly Kretschman and Cat Osterman have been central members of professional softball for years. Teammates and opponents throughout their careers on the field, the pair are joining up on the same staff to lead the Volts in the AUSL. Kretschman and Osterman were on the Texas State softball coaching staff together from 2015 to 2016.

A member of Team USA’s 2004 & 2008 Olympic teams, Kretschman had one of the lengthiest pro careers of any softball athlete with sustained success. She played extensively in the National Pro Fastpitch League (NPF) where she was a nine-time All-NPF team selection, two-time Offensive Player of the Year (2016, 2017), and a three-time NPF Player of the Year (2015-2017). Kretschman played college softball at Alabama where she is the career leader in doubles and total bases. She has coached within the NPF, WPF, and Team USA.

Osterman is a three-time Olympic medalist (2004, 2008, 2020) who began competing for the national team during her sophomore year of college. She redshirted after her sophomore season at Texas to compete with Team USA and ultimately win a gold medal. Osterman was a four-time All-American for the Longhorns and led them to three Women’s College World Series appearances. She is the only person to win USA Softball’s National Player of the Year honors three times. A long-time competitor in the NPF league, Osterman was the champion of Athletes Unlimited’s inaugural softball season in 2020 and finished her professional career with AU in 2021.

The following interview has been edited slightly for clarity and brevity.

Collins: You two have known each other for a long time. When did you first meet and what was your first impression of one another?

Osterman: We met in 2001. Well, I played against her because the national team at the time had two younger teams and the women who had just played on the 2000 Olympic team. They were touring with the pro league at the time to try to gain awareness and we played against them in LA. But then I met her at the end of that summer when I went to play for the Brakettes in Connecticut. She’s intimidating; she likes to give people a hard time and I am an easy target. And so that is actually where we got to know each other, but we have been best friends ever since.

Kretschman: She probably doesn’t remember this. She was 16 or 17 at the time, but in 2000, I was an alternate on the Olympic team and we played her travel ball team, the Katy Cruisers. She was throwing against us and I didn’t get to play very much. I was an alternate and I was actually going to get to play this game. Then she was striking everybody out. So by the third inning, I was on the bench because our head coach was like, “We need to see good pitching.” So that was my first impression: “Thanks Cat. I didn’t get to play.”

Osterman: She didn’t even get an at-bat off me. Yeah, they subbed me out before she got in.

Kretschman: Yeah, it was like, what the heck? So yeah, it was a great first impression. I was happy [sarcastically]. But when we got to know each other, it was just an instant banter back and forth and a friendship right away.

Collins: In the all-time of Cat vs. Kelly, who comes out on top?

Kretschman: Unfortunately, she does. I got to the point where I was like, “I ain’t swinging away anymore. I’m just going to bunt and I’m going to laugh at you as I run down the line.” And then she’d get so mad.

Osterman: I definitely won more often but she has some moments.

Collins: You both have won pro championships as players. You know what it takes to be at the end of that season and hoist the trophy. What’s the “it” factor to a championship team?

Osterman: I think the ones that we were on that won it consistently [were impacted by] how many players of the core group were able to motivate and keep everyone in the same direction.

Collins: The buy-in.

Osterman: One player, one roster move can change a team. And so you have to have the core that when you do make roster changes or you have rookies that come in, they can get them adopted and immersed in the buy-in. We had a group that played together for so long that the buy-in was easy, but there were times when we had to be motivated by each other too.

I remember one instance in particular: the loser had to do a clinic the next morning. And Natasha Watley is in that circle saying, “We are not doing a clinic. We love kids, but we are not doing a clinic. We are playing tomorrow.” And so that was every half-inning. “If we’re still here tomorrow, it’s because we’re playing.” But everyone bought into that. And when you come up with some silly thing in the middle of a game when you’re delirious or at the end of the season … If that’s what’s motivating us today, let’s go. You are representing a logo or a team name, but you need to be able to create your own identity. We were able to do that a lot on the teams that won.

Kretschman: And we’re all All-Americans. We’ve all had these accolades. Can you accept your role? That’s the biggest thing on teams that win. Everyone accepted their role. Like, “I’m just going to be a pinch runner or I might get a pinch hit here or there.” Because it’s really hard when you’ve been a four-time All-American or you have a gold medal or whatever it is to say, “Okay, this person is playing better than me. Can I accept that? And how do I make the team better?” And I think the teams that she’s talking about, we all just accepted our role and that’s why we excelled.

Collins: As you look at the players who aren’t pros yet like in the College Draft, what do you see in college athletes that makes you think they have a high ceiling to be a pro?

Osterman: I think the first thing I watch is in the big moments are you able, not necessarily to have success, but how do you carry yourself? How do you approach that moment? Because you want the athletes that want to be in that big moment – not just happen to be it and get success – but they want the ball. They want the at-bat. The two of us are those people. If an athlete doesn’t come through in that moment you can watch them and see that it didn’t make them shy away from wanting to do that again. You want those athletes because eventually, the development piece will get them to where they’re succeeding more than they’re failing in those moments. But as a college athlete, it’s not always there yet. Your peak isn’t until your mid to late twenties. So do we have the athletes with a mindset to be in those intense moments? Do they want to be playing against elite competition for the rest of their lives?

Kretschman: I pay attention to more than just results. The results will be there. If you’re an elite athlete, you’re going to get the results. But for the failure part, how do they handle being in a little slump? And how do they treat their teammates? If there’s someone that’s all about their teammates when they’re doing good and when they’re not doing good you see a complete difference, those are the things that I pay attention to more than if they are 3-for-4 in that game. I’ll take someone who’s probably not as good but treats their teammates the same no matter if they’re doing good or not.

Collins: College softball has obviously exploded. But how do we get players to not only dream bigger than college but fans too?

Kretschman: We dreamed about being Olympians, but then it got taken out of the Olympics. For a while they didn’t even dream about being on the U.S. team. It was, “I want to go play at Alabama. I want to go play at Oklahoma, Texas. Those are their dreams.” And then that’s when it stops.

Osterman: I remember once I started college and I knew pro softball existed simply because my grandma lived in Tampa. That iteration was the WPSL (Women’s Pro Softball League). And we went and watched them play because we happened to be visiting my grandma. So I saw that that was an avenue. But when I entered college I wanted to play pro softball for as long as I could. I had no idea what that could look like. But I saw it, so I wanted to do it. But wanting to do it with no idea what it’s going to look like is crazy.

Because think about young boys, they know what it looks like. You get drafted; you go through the minor leagues. Now softball has an avenue where they can look at it and say, “I know what it looks like. I want to go here, I hope I get drafted by this team.” Maybe one of their teams is closer to their home. But they have a space where it’s “I want to play here” not “I just want to play.”

Kretschman: But how cool would it be where we have to decide how long they have to stay in college before they’re able to go play pro? That would be so cool. Hopefully at one point.

Osterman: That’s scary to think. If you could leave college early, I might’ve left after ’04.

Kretschman: Oh for sure. Freshman year. “Dad, here we go.”

Osterman: That’s because you didn’t like school [laughs].

Collins: What if we get to a point where we have one-and-done softball players because they can’t wait to be on the Volts?

Kretschman: The WNBA has that rule. NWSL, they can go out of high school. So it’s possible. It’s feasible.

Collins: Why should people be Volts fans and what should they expect?

Osterman: I think you probably have the most dynamic duo between the two of us, as we’ve mentioned, with our relationship. And I think hope that rubs off on our players and the culture we create. I have the utmost respect for her, not just as my best friend, but for the athlete she is and the coach she’s turned into. I just know that our athletes are gonna get the best person to have their back. We’re both excited for this. The passion we both generated when we were athletes, it’s still there for us. It was a no-brainer to ask her to be a part of this as a coach. Once I got the GM job, I knew this would work well with us paired together.

Kretschman: Well, two things. We’re going to be competitive and we’re going to have energy. I can’t stand not having those two things because we’re trying to put on a show. We’re trying to get people to buy in and want to keep coming back. So if we don’t have those two things, then what are we doing? So I think you’re going to see that type of personality within our team and it’s going to be attractive and it’s going to be like, okay, I’m going to jump on this team’s back.

Launching in June 2025, the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) is a professional women’s softball league featuring four teams playing a 24-game season in a traditional format.

Savanna Collins is the Senior Reporter at Athletes Unlimited. You can follow her on Twitter @savannaecollins.