Ailana Agbayani could soon be a big name beyond college softball, and rightly so. With her receipt of an AUSL Golden Ticket on Friday, she's earned herself a guaranteed selection in the upcoming 2026 AUSL College Draft on May 4, quite a promising start to her young career.
Coming into Friday's contest against Georgia, Agbayani was hitting .409 with a .526 OBP and .609 SLG in her senior season at Oklahoma. Her dad was once her softball coach.
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Baseball fans -- at least those around Queens -- are probably already familiar with her dad. It certainly isn't a surname you hear every day, which might have tipped you off. Ailana Agbayani is the daughter of Benny Agbayani, whose five-year MLB career saw him become a minor Mets legend via a handful of iconic moments, including a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 13th in Game 3 of the 2000 NLDS against the Giants.
Benny Agbayani spent four seasons (1998-2001) in New York; his final Major League season in 2002 was split between the Rockies and Red Sox. After a year spent in the Minors, he left for Japan, where he played six seasons with the Chiba Lotte Marines. But during his peak from 1999-2000, Agbayani hit an impressive .288/.379/.498 (.878 OPS).
The Agbayanis have long since proven themselves to be excellent athletic mentors. Ailana's older sister, Aleia, played softball at UC Berkeley and BYU; her younger brother, Bruin, was a sixth-round draft pick by the Twins in 2025 and is the club's No. 30 prospect, as ranked by MLB Pipeline.
Ailana Agbayani is the 15th player to receive her Golden Ticket in 2026, joining NiJaree Canady (Texas Tech), Reese Atwood and Leighann Goode (Texas), Sydney Stewart (Arizona), Karlyn Pickens (Tennessee), Dakota Kennedy (Arkansas), Kenzie Brown (Arizona State), Taryn Kern (Stanford), Maya Johnson (Belmont), Jocelyn Erickson and Kenleigh Cahalan (Florida), Megan Grant, Taylor Tinsley and Jordan Woolery (UCLA) and Amari Harper (Oregon). The final golden ticket will be awarded on Saturday.