Athletes Unlimited Softball League has had no shortage of exceptionally talented players take on the field in its inaugural season. While a quarter of AUSL participants await immortality as members of the championship-winning team on July 27, the league is also handing out hardware for individual achievements by players who stood out on any of the four teams this season.
Although voting closed on July 21 at 7 p.m. CT, fans had the ability to decide the Hitter of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and All-Defensive Team for 2025 while head coaches and general managers determine the Most Valuable Player. Before the league announces the winners of the first four on July 23 and the MVP on July 26 before the first championship game in Tuscaloosa, here are a few frontrunners for each category.
Hitter of the Year: Sydney McKinney, Bandits
Three Bandits lead the league in hits – infielders McKinney and Skylar Wallace, and outfielder Morgan Zerkle, while infielder Erin Coffel is also a contender — so one can make a case for any of them here or as the MVP based on offensive output alone. McKinney has the third-highest batting average at an impressive .457, a .586 slugging percentage, the second most hits with 32 behind Zerkle, and two home runs in 74 appearances at the plate.
Pitcher of the Year: Georgina Corrick, Talons
With all due respect to Volts’ Rachel Garcia and Bandits’ Lexi Kilfoyl, this is definitely the category where voters likely lost the most sleep as the race statistically boils down to these three arms. While Garcia leads everyone with 50 strikeouts and Kilfoyl is third at 28, Corrick has been a consistent threat in the circle. In 31.1 innings pitched, she is the ERA leader with 2.01, held down the highest percentage of opposing batters at .195, struck out 25 batters, tossed two complete shutouts, and has an unbeaten 6-0 win-loss record. Corrick also snagged two Pitcher of the Series honors that solidify her case.
Rookie of the Year: Raelin Chaffin, Talons
The category where a lack of prior professional experience ensures that the 12 Golden Ticket winners are competing for this honor, Talons pitcher Chaffin’s rookie numbers are impressive for someone who commandeered the mound for Mississippi State only three months ago. After she pitched 34.2 innings in the circle, her 3.03 ERA and .258 opponent batting average are the fourth and third lowest in the league. Backing up those stats is a 6-1 record that tie with her teammate Corrick for the most wins this season.
Defensive Player of the Year: Danielle Gibson-Whorton, Bandits
Another player category, another runaway Bandit contender. Infielder Gibson-Whorton has prevented the most runners from reaching bases by far with a staggering 123 outs, which is over 30 more than the next highest total. In 22 appearances that include her start as a Blaze member prior to trading with pitcher Devyn Netz, she has committed only one error so far and holds a .992 fielding percentage.
Most Valuable Player: Morgan Zerkle, Bandits
It all comes down to this. As explained in Hitter of the Year, Zerkle has as much of a case for winning that category, but her stats this season truly indicate a higher award. She leads the league with 36 hits and eight home runs, tied with teammate Coffel for first in RBIs with 25, and holds a top five batting average and slugging percentage going .424 and .800 in 90 plate appearances. The Marshall graduate also won Player of the Series in Wichita on June 25. Defensively speaking, she put out 36 baserunners, holds a .886 fielding percentage, and committed five errors though her batting prowess more than makes up for the last two areas.
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