Following a sensational inaugural season, the Athletes Unlimited Softball League has expanded by two teams -- the Bandits, Blaze, Talons and Volts will be joined in 2026 by the Oklahoma City Spark and Cascade. The AUSL Expansion Draft, through which the two new franchises will be building their rosters, began on Monday night with a major spark.
Maya Brady, the young phenom out of UCLA who made her professional debut last season with the Talons -- and the niece of seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady -- was selected first overall by the Oklahoma City Spark.
Brady, 24, missed the first month of the 2025 AUSL campaign due to a hamstring injury, but she made a tremendous debut by reaching base in her first 10 plate appearances (7-for-7, three walks). Overall, she hit .500 over 22 at-bats.
Prior to joining the Talons, Brady had a record-setting softball career at UCLA. The shortstop/outfielder was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year in 2023 and '24, won the Pac-12 batting title by hitting .456 in 2023, was a two-time USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Finalist (2023-24), a three-time NFCA First Team All-American (2021, '23, '24), a four-time All-Pac-12 honoree and the 2020 Softball America Freshman of the Year, just to name some of her numerous accolades.
As a versatile defensive player with prodigious power at the plate, Brady is the prototypical player to build a franchise around, and after winning the coin toss to secure the first overall selection in the AUSL Expansion Draft, the Spark seized the opportunity to do just that.
With the second pick, the Cascade selected pitcher Sam Landry, who pitched with the Volts last year. Landry played collegiately at Oklahoma and there was speculation that the Spark would select her given the local connection, but the Cascade snatched her up before they could.
Top five AUSL Expansion Draft selections:
- Spark: Maya Brady (Talons), INF/OF
- Cascade: Sam Landry (Volts), P
- Cascade: Carley Hoover (Blaze), P
- Spark: Sydney McKinney (Bandits), INF
- Spark: Sydney Romero (Talons), INF
Following the Expansion Draft was the AUSL Allocation Draft, which is open to players who have actively opted in to be considered for selection to an AUSL roster. The eligible player pool includes players from professional leagues around the world, other professional teams and the AUSL 2025 Reserve Pool. Here are the top six Allocation Draft picks:
- Cascade: Kelly Maxwell, P
- Spark: Kinzie Hansen, C
- Talons: Jayda Coleman, OF
- Bandits: Kat Sandercock, P
- Blaze: Alyssa Brito, INF
- Volts: Ally Carda, P
Each club will select two NCAA players during the AUSL College Draft, which will take place in the spring.