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Welcome to the playoffs. Monday marked the end of the 2026 Athletes Unlimited Softball League regular season, and three teams are headed to College Station: the Talons, Bandits, and Cascade.
This season has been a wild run, and it came down to the last second to determine the seeding for championships. The standings changed after each series, all the way down to Tuesday, when we saw the Portland Cascade secure their spot.
Yes, three teams are heading down for the postseason, but only two will compete in the championship series. The Bandits (No. 2 seed) and Cascade (No. 3 seed) will face off on Thursday in just one game. The winner will play a best-of-three series against the Talons.
The Talons, Bandits, and Cascade all have their own talents and strengths. When the best of the best face off in a nearly sold-out stadium, who will emerge on top?
The Utah Talons
The Utah Talons have held the number one ranking since the very start of the season. They opened their season with a series sweep over the Bandits and never slowed down.
The Talons are the clear leaders in pitching. They hold the lowest team earned run average of 2.78, a whopping 1.02 lower than the next team.
They have combined for a total of 139 strikeouts, leading the league, while letting up just 75 runs all season, 23 fewer than the next team.
The staff is headlined by two rockstar pitchers who keep opponents’ bats at bay. Montana Fouts has tossed the most innings for the team with 62.1 while collecting 63 strikeouts.
Georgina Corrick, a recent return from the reserve list, has made an immediate impact in her 37.2 innings, in which she holds a remarkable 1.12 ERA. This is no shock for Corrick, who led the league in ERA last season as well.
Fouts and Corrick are backed by league veteran Megan Faraimo, who’s been playing since she graduated from UCLA in 2023. Faraimo has taken a backseat with Corrick’s return, but should provide adequate support headed into the championship series.
Offensively, the Talons aren’t taking charge in any categories, but they can certainly handle themselves. They hit .274 as a team, ranking right in the middle of the pack.
Bri Ellis is the team’s power hitter, posting a 1.215 OPS and five home runs. Jadelyn Allchin has collected 17 RBIs this season, first on the team and seventh in the league.
The Talons are a formidable opponent who knows how to win. No matter who they end up facing in the championship, it’s going to be a hard fight to take down the top-ranked team.
The Chicago Bandits
The Bandits needed to win both games of their two-game series against the Talons to solidify a spot as the number one seed and get a bye straight into the championship.
On Saturday, July 18, the Bandits took down the Talons to inch closer to the number one seed. The grueling eight-inning game was scoreless through seven. The Talons scored one in the top of the eighth, and the Bandits responded. Tied with two outs, Sami Williams laid down the final bunt to score Bella Dayton from third.
Unfortunately, they were unable to deliver in Sunday’s game, dropping 3-1 to the Talons to hand them the No. 1 seed.
The Chicago Bandits have captured the hearts of many fans. From an 0-4 start to being the second team to clinch a playoff berth, this group knows how to turn a season around and kick it into high gear.
They’re a fun team with a dynamic lineup that continuously produces runs, evident by their leading offensive statistics.
The Bandits lead the league in average (.311) and on-base percentage (.402). They also lead with 203 hits, making them the only team to surpass 200 hits, while adding on 130 RBIs.
You can’t point out just one offensive contributor on this team; several deserve recognition. Obviously, no one comes close to the ‘SW’ duo of Skylar Wallace and Sami Williams.
This shortstop and third base combo is untouchable. Wallace has a slash line of .500/.574/.979, and Williams .427/.495/.893. These two alone account for 51 of the team’s RBIs and 41 of their runs scored.
Just behind the SW’s are several players all hitting above .300, including Morgan Zerkle, Bella Dayton, and Ailana Agbayani. The Bandits are simply fun to watch. Whether they be blasting home runs or playing small ball, they know how to get the job done.
The Portland Cascade
The Portland Cascade had to wait until the morning of Tuesday, July 21, to know whether or not they’d be claiming that No. 3 seed position.
A rainout pushed the Spark vs. Blaze game to the next day, where the winner would decide Portland’s fate. If the Blaze could take down the Spark, Portland would earn its spot in the postseason.
After an eight-run first inning from the Blaze, Cascade fans took a breath of relief as they knew they could secure that last spot in the play-in game.
The Cascade aren’t your typical playoff-making team. They have the lowest team average of .242 and the fewest hits with 148.
They sit in the middle of the pack in pitching stats with a 4.09 staff ERA. Their staff isn’t reliant on one or two pitchers. They split the task up amongst four: Kenzie Brown, Carley Hoover, Payton Gottshall, and Sam Landry.
The Cascade rely on a few heavy hitters to get the job done. Most notable is Megan Grant, who hit her ninth and 10th home runs in their final regular season game. Grant sits one behind Maya Brady in home runs, but now gets a shot to take the home run crown as the Spark are out of the playoffs.
Korbe Otis brings her talents as well with five home runs and 18 RBIs. Otis and Grant are the two notable RBI hitters and have to do their job to compete past the play-in game.
The Next Matchup
To kick off the postseason, the Bandits will play the Cascade in a single game to determine who continues to the championship series.
This season, the Bandits stand at 4-1 against the Cascade, with their only loss being a 5-4 defeat in the opening game of the season. If that track record stands, the Bandits could be moving through to the championship.
But, if fans know anything, it’s that this league is far from ordinary. Upsets and come-from-behind wins are just another day in the AUSL.
Sure, the Bandits are favored in this play-in game, and it’s even likely that they’ll come out on top. But don’t discredit the Cascade quite yet. A single-game matchup is the excitement everyone wants to watch.
And Then…?
The winner of Thursday night’s play-in game will face the Utah Talons in the AUSL 2026 championship series. A best-of-three series will crown the 2026 winners.
The Talons took it home last season, but with an almost entirely different lineup, everything could change.
Heading Down South
All three teams will head down to College Station, TX this week in preparation for five days of postseason softball.
The play-in game will start Thursday at 9:00 p.m. ET at Davis Diamond, Texas A&M’s softball field. The championship series will kick off on Saturday, with game two on Sunday, and an if-needed game three on Monday.
Saturday and Sunday’s games are sold out, and it will be an electric few nights at the diamond.
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