Before playing a single game, the AUSL (Athletes Unlimited Softball League) is already making huge waves. The league announced four head coaches and general managers for the upcoming 2025 season. For softball fans everywhere, some of the names are quite familiar. Here, two of the general managers are none other than softball legends Cat Osterman and Lisa Fernandez.
Osterman is one of the advisors for the new softball league and was the inaugural champion of the Athletes Unlimited Championship Season in 2020. Her resume is as decorated as any player who has ever stepped on a softball field.
She is a three-time Olympian, winning two silver medals and gold in the 2004 Games. Also, the legendary left-handed pitcher is a two-time Pan American Games Gold Medalist and a Four-time Big 12 Pitcher of the Year with the University of Texas. When it comes to head coach, Osterman will have her former Team USA teammate Kelly Kretschman. Kretschman is a two-time Olympic Medalist as well as a nine-time NPF (National Pro Fastpitch) All-Star selection.
a historic day for the AUSL 🤩
— AUSL (@theAUSLofficial) November 25, 2024
we are thrilled to welcome a highly decorated group of softball veterans to serve as Head Coaches and General Managers of the inaugural four teams!
👉 https://t.co/6ZH5WnZRQn pic.twitter.com/kRriV4sbJM
Next, Fernandez is a three-time Olympic Gold Medalist and a four-time World Championship Gold Medalist. The legendary right-hander is currently the UCLA Associate Head Softball Coach.
As a player at UCLA, Fernandez was a three-time Pac-12 Player of the Year and the first-ever softball player to win the Honda Broderick Cup (a sports award for the nation’s best collegiate female athlete). The head coach of the team is Howard Dobson. Dobson spent 13 seasons with the LSU Tigers on their softball coaching staff before stepping away earlier this year.
More General Managers and Head Coaches For AUSL Softball Season
First, general manager Jenny Dalton-Hill was a standout softball player at the University of Arizona. She was a three-time All-American with the Wildcats under the great Mike Candrea. In 1997, she played with the all-female professional baseball team, the Colorado Silver Bullets.
Additionally, she was a part of the United States Women’s National Baseball Team, winning bronze in 2010. For this team, Stacey Nuveman-Deniz will be the head coach who is currently the head coach of the San Diego State softball team. The former catcher is a three-time Olympic Medalist, winning Gold in 2004 and 2004. She was a three-time Pac-10 Player of the Year at UCLA and is the NCAA all-time career leader in home runs and slugging percentage.
who would you want to see on @StaceyNuveman and @JennyDaltonHill’s team? 👀
— AUSL (@theAUSLofficial) November 26, 2024
📸: @USASoftball / @ArizonaSoftball pic.twitter.com/DZtMds7tKS
Lastly, Dana Sorensen is a former pitcher for the Stanford Cardinal who took home three NFCA (National Fastpitch Coaches Association) All-American honors. The general manager spent time as an assistant coach with UC Davis and Oregon State.
Sorensen oversees the Sorensen Elite Softball Pitching LLC, a pitching instruction and sports performance training company. In this case, Western Illinois Softball Head Coach Alisa Goler will hold the same role in AUSL. Goler was an assistant coach at  Penn State and Syracuse.
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