cascadecascade
#33, Right-Handed Pitcher, R/R

Payton Gottshall

University of Tennessee, Knoxville '24

Hometown: Massillon, Ohio

Four-time All-Conference

Payton Gottshall is a 5-foot-9 professional softball pitcher from Massillon, Ohio. She was acquired in the 4th Round of the 2026 Expansion Draft following a collegiate career at Bowling Green and Tennessee.


Personal Life


Education: Earned a master's degree in special education.

Background: Daughter of Mike and Holly Gottshall. Has two dogs named Lala and Louis.

Professional Experience


Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball, AUX & AUSL (2024–2025)

2025 AUSL All-Star Cup: Accumulated 368 leaderboard points over five appearances (one start), posting a 7.64 ERA.

2025 AUSL Regular Season: Tied for second in the AUSL with 15 appearances, recording a 3-3 record with one save, a 3.40 ERA, and 23 strikeouts.

2024 Championship Season: Compiled 968 leaderboard points with a 3.57 ERA and 10 strikeouts over 15.2 innings.

2024 AUX Season: Set the AUX single-season record with three saves, accumulating 896 leaderboard points with a 4.30 ERA.


Other Professional Experience (2025–2026)

Mexican Softball League: Piloted Monterrey Sultanes to the 2026 league title, ranking second in the circuit with 87.2 innings and 95 strikeouts.

College Experience: Bowling Green & Tennessee (2020–2024)


Career Statistics: Appeared in 156 games (116 starts) with a 94-37 record, 1.70 ERA, 10 saves, and 1,078 strikeouts.

Graduate Year (2024, Tennessee): Compiled a 20-5 record with a 1.37 ERA and 164 strikeouts.

Senior Year (2023, Tennessee): Accumulated a 16-2 record with a 1.65 ERA and 130 strikeouts.

Bowling Green (2020–2022): Posted a 1.78 ERA with 58 wins over three seasons. Set the school single-season strikeout record with 374 in 2022 and finished her career with a school-record 784 strikeouts over 542.0 innings.


Awards & Honors

All-America: 2024 First-Team All-America (Softball America and NFCA) and Second-Team All-America (D1Softball).

Conference Honors: First-Team All-SEC as a graduate student. 2022 MAC Pitcher of the Year and 2021 MAC Freshman Pitcher of the Year.

AUSL Headshot of Payton Gottshall

Career Stats

YEAR
W-L
ERA
G
GS
IP
H
SO
LOB
BB
R
ER
HR
B/AVG
HB
CG
SHO
SV
B
S
WP
2026 AUSL
2-2
3.91
10
2
28.2
34
15
-
15
23
16
5
.286
2
-
-
-
169
285
-
2025 All-Star Cup
0-2
7.64
5
1
7.1
11
1
-
3
8
8
2
.367
-
-
-
-
14
37
-
2025 AUSL
3-3
3.40
15
1
47.1
49
23
-
14
27
23
6
.265
5
-
-
1
300
559
-
2024 Championship*
0-1
3.57
6
2
15.2
16
10
-
6
8
8
3
.271
1
1
-
-
19
34
-
2024 AUX Softball
0-0
4.30
8
-
14.2
16
8
-
-
10
9
4
.267
-
-
-
3
27
70
-
Career Totals
0-0
4.30
8
-
14.2
16
8
-
-
10
9
4
.267
-
-
-
3
27
70
-

*The AUSL All-Star Cup was known as the Championship season through 2024.

Game Log

DATE
HOME TEAM
AWAY TEAM
W-L
ERA
G
IP
H
SO
LOB
BB
R
ER
HR
B/AVG
HB
CG
SHO
SV
B
S
WP
7/18/2026
CascadeVolts
0-0
0.00
1
2.0
2
1
-
1
-
-
-
.286
-
-
-
-
9
23
-
7/16/2026
CascadeTalons
0-1
5.25
1
4.0
3
1
-
1
3
3
2
.200
-
-
-
-
19
41
-
7/12/2026
CascadeBandits
1-0
0.00
1
4.1
3
3
-
1
-
-
-
.188
-
-
-
-
25
45
-
7/11/2026
CascadeBandits
0-1
2.33
1
3.0
2
2
-
3
1
1
-
.200
-
-
-
-
29
32
-
7/4/2026
SparkCascade
0-0
21.00
1
1.1
5
-
-
1
4
4
-
.556
1
-
-
-
17
34
-
6/30/2026
BanditsCascade
0-0
15.75
1
2.2
8
3
-
2
8
6
1
.500
1
-
-
-
26
48
-
6/27/2026
VoltsCascade
1-0
1.50
1
4.2
3
1
-
1
1
1
1
.176
-
-
-
-
26
39
-
6/19/2026
CascadeSpark
0-0
1.50
1
4.2
4
4
-
2
1
1
1
.235
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
6/10/2026
BlazeCascade
0-0
0.00
1
1.0
4
-
-
3
5
-
-
.444
-
-
-
-
18
23
-
6/9/2026
BlazeCascade
0-0
0.00
1
1.0
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

*The AUSL All-Star Cup was known as the Championship season through 2024.

Highlights

Play-In Preview: Cascade and Bandits Face Off in AUSL Playoff Game

The stage is set for the Athletes Unlimited Softball League Play-In Game, with the Chicago Bandits (16-9) meeting the Portland Cascade (14-11) in the postseason opener in College Station, Texas, on Thursday, July 23. The league’s expanded postseason format includes a game between the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, with the winner advancing to […]

Read More
Sami Williams and Megan Grant will face off in the 2026 AUSL Play-In Game.

Awards & Honors

Four-time All-Conference
2024 NFCA All-Southeast Region First Team
2022 MAC Pitcher of the Year
2021 MAC Freshman Pitcher of the Year
Three-time First-Team All-Mid-American Conference

Transactions

  • 12/2/2025Cascade
    Cascade drafted Payton Gottshall in the expansion draft: [Round 4, Pick 1 (7)]
  • 1/30/2025Volts
    Volts drafted Payton Gottshall in the inagural draft [Round 6, Pick 3(23)]

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