Five Huskies Set to Compete in Athletes Unlimited Pro League
SEATTLE -- As the Athletes Unlimited professional softball league gets set for its second season later this month, there will be five Washington alums in the mix.
After wrapping up a legendary career in the purple and gold, Sis Bates has joined the player pool for the league. in her time on Montlake, Bates earned just about every accolade possible, including being named the 2021 NCAA and Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, 2021 Tom Hansen Medal Winner and holding Washington's all-time hits record.
Former UW pitcher Taran Alvelo will also be participating in the league. Alvelo has a lengthy list of Husky accomplishments as well, as she is a three-time All-Pac-12 First Team honoree and has amassed over 100 career wins with nearly 900 career strikeouts.
Ali Aguilar will participate in the league after recently helping Team USA to a silver medal at the Olympics in July. As a Husky, Aguilar was an All-American and three-time First Team All-Pac-12 honoree. She was also a member of the 2017 Pac-12 All-Defensive Team and was a Senior CLASS Award finalist in that same season.
Fresh off of an Olympic bronze medal with Canada, Victoria Hayward joins the player pool as well. Hayward was an All-American and All-Conference player at Washington and has excelled on the international stage with Canada. In the 2020 Summer Olympics, Hayward led all players in runs scored and batted leadoff for the bronze medal-winning Candian team.
Rounding out the Huskies in the Athletes Unlimited pro league in Courtney Gano. While at UW, Gano excelled on the field and in the classroom, being named All-Pac-12, NFCA All-Pacific Region and Pac-12 All-Academic.
Athletes Unlimited is new way for the best athletes in the world to compete professionally. All five weeks of the softball season will be played in the same city, with the teams changing each week. The players have the power, as they recruit other professional athletes to the league, help create the rules and the top four highest-scoring players each week will become captain and draft their teams from scratch.