The GIST: More women’s sports, coming right up. After a down-to-the-wire, highlight reel–worthy championship weekend, Amanda Lorenz is your 2024 Athletes Unlimited (AU) softball winner, accumulating 1800 points to claim the fifth annual crown. Diamond’s gotta shine.
How it happened: Lorenz beat out a field of 60 of the best players in the world to win her first-ever AU title, making history as the first outfielder to be named as champion. The former Florida standout jumped to the top of the leaderboard in Week 2 and never relinquished the No. 1 spot, finishing tied for the lead league in batting average and home runs.
- Friend of The GIST and Rookie of the Year Lexi Kilfoyl finished in second, turning in a stellar complete game outing on the final day of the season to move up into that No. 2 spot. Every moment really does count.
Zooming out: With five successful AU championship seasons and two shorter AUX campaigns in the books, AU’s gearing up to launch the brand new Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) in 2025, giving players a more traditional city-based league that will exist alongside the innovative AU format.
- Plus, the launch of AUSL will coincide with the continued growth of softball, highlighted by still-soaring Women’s College World Series viewership numbers and the game’s upcoming return to the Olympics in 2028. Nothing soft about it.