History was made on Aug. 9 at the Little League Softball World Series, because for the first time, professional softball players competed in the AU Pro Games in front of the Little Leaguers.  

Sixty Athletes Unlimited athletes (14 of whom are Little League alumnae) on four different teams traveled to play at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC, while the next generation of softball players were in the stands, dreaming of one day being in their position. 

In 2020, Jon Patricof & Jonathan Soros founded Athletes Unlimited, a unique and unconventional women’s professional sports league, to give women the opportunity to see racial, gender and income equality across professional sporting events. The four leagues -- softball, volleyball, basketball and lacrosse -- all have dozens of their sports' top athletes from around the world who compete against one another weekly on a point system. 

Cat Osterman, a two-time Olympic softball medalist and inaugural AU champion in 2020, when she threw the first no-hitter in AU history, threw out the first pitch at the AU Pro Games.

“Throwing the first pitch out at the Little League/Athletes Unlimited event was a huge honor,” she said. “Both organizations were important parts of my career, and it’s amazing to see the two unite to give young softball players the chance to interact with Pros, as well as see the pros play in person.”

AU has a unique scoring system that shows the importance of every play mattering. For AU softball, they play a five-week season, with each team playing three games each week. Every inning is worth 10 team points and the team that wins the game earns an additional 50 points. So even if the team doesn’t win the game, they still have the opportunity to earn team points if their team scores more runs than their opponent in an inning.

The scoring system is not only team driven, but also individually driven. Points are awarded based on offensive success -- single (10 points), double (20 points), triple (30 points), home run (40 points), stolen base (10 points), walk (8 points), hit by pitch (8 points), sacrifice fly/bunts (10 points) and caught stealing (-10 points). For pitchers, they have the chance to earn more points than other position players (+4 points for every out and -10 points for every earned run allowed).

Game 1 featured Team Davidson vs. Team Romero. Rachel Garcia hit the first solo blast of the day in the second inning to give Team Romero the early lead, but Nadia Taylor tied the ballgame up in the fourth with a single. Team Romero quickly answered with back-to-back solo shots in the fifth, but Team Davidson hit home runs in the next two innings to tie it up again.

Taylor became the hero with a tie-breaking homer to give Team Davidson its first lead of the night and the eventual 4-3 win, earning her MVP 1 honors (60 points) from her two-RBI game.

“It’s seriously amazing,” said Amanda Lorenz, left fielder for Team Romero. “To be in front of these youth players and show them that they can play professional softball is surreal. We were in their shoes and we are so excited to be here.”

Game 2 between Team Alexander and Team Faraimo proved to be another home run battle. Both teams hit two-run homers in the first inning. In the third, Danielle Gibson hit an RBI single to give her team the 3-2 lead, but Sis Bates tied up the game with a solo shot in the fourth.

Kat Sandercock, who competed in the semifinals of the LLSWS in 2013, shut down Team Faraimo on her way to retiring 16 straight batters. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Aliyah Andrews hit a walk-off single to capture 80 points (30 from rollover innings) for Team Alexander.

“I’m so excited that we got to interact with these softball players and have them watch us so they know that they can be in our shoes one day and continue playing professionally if their heart desires,” Andrews said. “I want them to know there are opportunities for them and hopefully when they watch our games, they will be inspired to keep playing.”

“One piece of advice I would give younger athletes aspiring to play professional softball is to just keep playing,” said Bubba Nickles, a member of Team Alexander. “Keep playing even if it doesn’t seem like it is something that will continue for a long time. Ultimately, we’re all playing a game that is meant for fun and joy. So play the game for as long as possible with that fun and joyful heart because it will be what you cherish most as you continue to grow in the sport.”

Anna Laible is a teenage reporter for Sports Illustrated Kids and hosts her own podcast called Speak Up Sports.