Series One of the 2026 Athletes Unlimited Softball League All-Star Cup is complete, and with the final points tallied for the opening series, Baylee Klingler, Kenzie Brown and Keilani Ricketts will step into the captain seats for Series Two in Rosemont, Illinois.
While each of the three teams finished 1-1, Team Ricketts dominated the leaderboard by collecting every available inning win point in Monday’s meeting with Team Garcia, ensuring that all three Series Two captains hail from Ricketts’ Series One team, including Ricketts herself.
ATHLETES UNLIMITED SOFTBALL LEAGUE
Here are the stars that leapt to the top of the leaderboard during the competition’s opening series.
Team Ricketts Sweeps the Top Four
Klingler wrapped up the top spot in the standings after two starts for Team Ricketts during Series One. As the designated player, she made six total plate appearances, posting a .333 batting average, .500 slugging percentage and .833 OPS over the weekend.
The Carolina Blaze star recorded two hits, including a two-RBI double to lead Team Ricketts past Team Garcia on Monday night, and totaled three RBIs. Of her total leaderboard points, 174 came from win points, and 30 came from stat points, while her score was boosted by a 60-point MVP 1 nod following Monday night’s win.
The Portland Cascade’s Kenzie Brown claimed her captain spot with 4 1/3 innings of work over the weekend for Team Ricketts. The right-handed pitcher recorded four strikeouts, allowed just one earned run, and held her opponents to a .071 batting average. She recorded 252 total points over the series, including 42 stat points and 40 additional points from MVP 2 honors following Monday night’s win over Team Garcia.
Ricketts was the lone Series One team leader to retain her captaincy.
The veteran Blaze pitcher totaled 242 leaderboard points in two appearances for her own Team Ricketts during Series One. She collected 52 stat points and 20 MVP points from an MVP 3 nod. Last year’s third-place finisher recorded 4 1/3 innings over her team’s two outings, including 3 1/3 innings against Team Corrick, when the lefty hurler struck out three and held Team Corrick to a .231 batting average.
Grant and Faraimo Break Up the Team Ricketts Party
Megan Faraimo and Megan Grant were the only players outside of Team Ricketts to break into the top 10.
Faraimo, the Utah Talons’ right-handed star, entered the All-Star Cup fresh off another AUSL championship run and maintained that momentum, collecting the most stat points of any player during Series One while playing for Team Corrick, landing sixth on the leaderboard.
Her 66 stat points all came from outs recorded, as she pitched 6.1 total innings over the weekend, recording an 1.11 ERA and six strikeouts while holding opponents to a .136 batting average. Her six strikeouts were second only to Rachel Garcia, who pitched 9 1/3 innings during the series.
Grant finished fifth on the Series One leaderboard with 220 total points. The utility player played right field throughout the weekend, but it was at the plate that she really shined.
Straight from her rookie AUSL season with the Cascade, Grant maintained her power-hitting reputation as she collected 50 stat points, thanks in part to a towering grand slam that she knocked out on the first pitch of her at-bat versus Ricketts on Sunday night. Additionally, she picked up 110 win points with Team Corrick and an MVP 1 recognition worth 60 more points following her offensive explosion Sunday night.
The AUSL All-Star Cup continues with Series Two, starting Friday, Aug. 14 in Rosemont, Ill., with new teams following the next draft. Tickets are available now.
The AUSL All-Star Cup is a four-series season from Aug. 8-30 in which 45 professional softball players compete to become the individual champion utilizing Athletes Unlimited’s innovative format. Teams are hand picked by the top athletes on the leaderboard each series.
Siera Jones is the digital media reporter at Athletes Unlimited.
