As Week One of the 2024 AU Softball Championship Season is in the books, the amazing offense and pitching on the rosters came out. There were long balls but the hits kept coming like the Billboard charts in Rosemont, Illinois. This also led to a drastic shift on the leaderboard that looks quite different from Opening Day. That being said, let’s recap Games Five and Six of the season.
Game Five: A Rookie Shines in the Circle in AU Softball
Here, Sydney Romero and the Purple Team faced Gwen Svekis and Team Blue with both squads seeking their second win of the week. The first six innings of this game saw a total of one between the teams. It came in the top of the second inning via an error as Delanie Wisz scored from third for Team Romero.
However, they put the game away in the top of the seventh with five runs. Kelsey Stewart-Hunter, Romero, and sister Sierra Romero each had an RBI while Haylie McCleney added two RBIs. It is important to note that McCleney reached 100 career hits in her illustrious Athletes Unlimited Softball career.
100th career hit for the legend herself 👑 @hayliemac8 | 📺 ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/tj0oh1IPtu
— AU Pro Softball (@auprosoftball) July 28, 2024
For Team Svekis, hits were hard to come by as Lexi Kilfoyl was focused. The right-hander allowed just four hits with seven strikeouts in the second complete game of her professional career. Kilfoyl took home MVP 1 honors while Wisz and McCleney got MVP 2 and 3 honors, respectively.
Game Six: A Grand Slam Day to Close Out the Week
The final game of the doubleheader saw Team Orange, led by Alyssa Denham, seeking a sweep in the win column. Odicci Alexander and the Gold squad were looking to go above the .500 mark. Following two scoreless innings, Bubba Nickles hit a two-run double to center field to give Team Gold an early lead in the bottom of the third.
Yet, the bats of Team Denham came alive in the top of the fourth with six runs. Erin Coffel started the action with an RBI triple followed by a Sashel Palacios RBI single. The inning was capped off by a grand slam off the bat of rookie Skylar Wallace, her first career homer in AU Softball.
GRAND. SLAM. 💥 @Wallace2Skylar gets all of this ball and Team Denham takes the 6-1 lead!#AUProSB | 📺 Bally Sports pic.twitter.com/64HaroQFWA
— AU Pro Softball (@auprosoftball) July 28, 2024
After the fourth inning, Team Gold would add one more run with another RBI by Nickles in the fifth. Denham and Team Orange added a run in the sixth with an Amanda Lorenz RBI single and four more in the seventh. First, Megan Wiggins slammed a two-run shot right field as Kelsey Harshman had a two-run double, giving Team Orange the 11-2 victory and ending the week undefeated at 3-0.
To the shock of a few, Wallace won MVP 1 honors with her effort as teammates Coffel (MVP 2) and Wiggins (MVP 3) swept the rest of the honors.
Captains for Week Two of the AU Championship Softball Season
Taking a look at the captains, Kilfoyl will take the helm of Team Gold, and Taylor McQuillin will lead the Orange Team. Rounding out the remaining two spots will be Lorenz for Team Blue and Wallace for Team Blue. The rookies Kilfoyl and Wallace Vs. the veterans in McQuillin and Lorenz will play out as all four players look to stay atop the leaderboard by the end of Week Two.
the Week 2 #AUProSB Captains 🫡
— AU Pro Softball (@auprosoftball) July 29, 2024
💛 @lexikilfoyl
🧡 @taybeezzyyy
🩵 @amandalorenz18
💜 @Wallace2Skylar #AUProSB pic.twitter.com/getVBLEN3t
In closing, Week Two will get underway on August 2nd at the Parkway Bank Sports Complex. Team Lorenz will face Team McQuillin in the first game of the doubleheader. The final matchup will be between Team Kilfoyl and Team Wallace. Times are currently TBA.
You can follow me on Twitter. Also, follow Beyond Women’s Sports for more from the world of sports.
