The 2025 AUSL All-Star Cup kicked off the season with the opening three games at Ting Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 2 and Sunday, Aug. 3. in Holly Springs, N.C. In the doubleheader on Saturday, Team Kilfoyl (Orange) came out on top over with a 3-2 victory over Team Ocasio (Blue), followed by Team Lorenz (Gold) getting the first shut down with a 1-0 win against Team Corrick (Purple). The orange team proceeded to win again 4-1 facing Team Corrick in Sunday’s contest.
Orange jerseys shined on the North Carolina diamond
The first inning of Team Ocasio vs. Team Kilfoyl saw players on both sides scoring the first points in the season. Team Ocasio’s Aubrey Leach earned 10 points with a walk, while Kilfoyl tossed the first strikeout. After a double from Danielle Gibson Whorton scored Bella Dayton the first run for Kilfoyl’s team, Ocasio’s own first strikeout retired their turn at bat.
Team Ocasio tied the game in the third inning when a throwing error by the Team Kilfoyl second baseman earned Kobe Ortis the first run for the blue team. Megan Faraimo relieved Ocasio in the fifth inning and immediately struck her first batter out, though both teams were still even on the scoreboard.
The orange crew gained the upper hand in the sixth inning where two single swings allowed Mary Iakopo and Devyn Netz to touch home and take the lead. The blue team responded in the seventh inning when Korbe Otis smacked a homerun to the left field, though the team captain grounding out to the orange third baseman ended the opening game with Team Kilfoyl winning 3-2.
In the second game on Saturday between Team Lorenz and Team Corrick, neither team was able to score runs in the first four innings. Team Corrick pitcher Sam Landry tossed three strikeouts during the standoff until the fifth inning where teammate Payton Gottshall subbed for her in the circle.
The stalemate finally broke when K. Kowalik tapped a double that earned the Orange Team captain and left fielder Lorenz the first run and gave her a squad a 1-0 lead. The gold team held on the lead for the final two innings, where Team Lorenz pitcher Rachel Garcia threw two strikeouts and ended the game with ground out catch to give her team a 1-0 shutout victory.
The purple vs. orange game on the following day started with both teams scoreless in the first three innings, which included Team Corrick pitcher Montana Fouts being relieved by Aliyah Binford after one strikeout.
Jadelyn Allchin took the lead for Team Corrick in the fourth inning after Sydney Romero singled to the left side, but the bottom half saw Team Kilfoyl take the lead with a two-RBI double by Mary Iakopo scoring for Netz and Erin Coffel. The latter also scored two runs by smashing her first All-Star Cup dinger this season in the sixth inning, further pushing the orange ahead by three. With neither side giving up runs in the seventh inning, Team Kilfoyl won 4-1 and bagged a second weekend dub.
Sy. Romero, Otis, and Team Ocasio’s Jessi Warren led the batting lineup across all four squads with three hits at the plate, while Amanda Lorenz swung three on deck and scored the lone run for her team. Coffel had a perfect one-for-one in her sole at-bat, giving her 20 points on the leaderboard as the third-place MVP in the game on Sunday and tying Netz and Otis with the most runs over the past three games with two.
Landry struck the most batters out on the mound at three, compared to two by Kilfoyl, Ocasio, and Georgina Corrick. Among the three captains, Kilfoyl was the only one who pitched seven complete innings in the circle.
Kilfoyl leads the league after three games, establishes herself as title frontrunner
Sitting on top of the leaderboard with 354 points, Kilfoyl is determined to build an early lead that will continue over the course of the season. Her teammates Sarah Willis, Kendra Falby and Iakopo follow with a share of the MVP vote, and Gibson Whorton rounds out the top five scorers. Garcia is the only non-orange member in the top 10, and Lorenz trails not far behind in 18th. Further down the middle of the standings, Otis in 31st and Landry in 35th are the highest-ranking blues and purples respectively due to a lack of wins, which means that Ocasio (32nd) and Corrick (54th) will need to bounce back if they want to remain in charge and stay in contention.
Team Ocasio will play Team Lorenz on Monday, Aug. 4, then all four teams are heading to Greenville, N.C. on Wednesday, Aug. 6 when Team Corrick faces Team Ocasio followed by Team Kilfoyl playing against Team Lorenz. First pitch for Monday is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. CT at Ting Stadium and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+. The first game on Wednesday is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT at Max R. Joyner Family Stadium, followed by game two at 6 p.m. CT. Both games will air live on ESPN2.
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