Softball Season 5: Week 4 Draft Dots

Here is a list of notes and tidbits related to the AU Pro Softball Week Four draft.

• Pitcher Megan Faraimo becomes the 10th different player to serve as a captain during the 2024 AU Pro Softball Championship Season after finishing Week Three in fourth place on the leaderboard. The second-year pro authored a 2-4 record in two stints as a captain last summer.
• Pitcher Lexi Kilfoyl, who is piloting the Blue Team in Week Four, enters her third consecutive week as a captain, but will be wearing a different color for the third week in a row. She wore Gold during her inaugural week as a team leader in Week Two before donning the Orange top last week.
• Catcher Sharlize Palacios became the first non-pitcher to be selected as the No. 1 overall pick in a weekly draft this season after being taken by Team Faraimo on Tuesday. Kilfoyl was the top choice in Week One before Faraimo was picked first in each of the previous two weeks.
• Pitchers were taken with five of the first 10 selections, including three of the opening five picks. Taylor McQuillin, who had been a captain in each of the previous two weeks, was the first pitcher off the board in Tuesday’s proceedings.
• Infielders were taken with all four picks in the eighth round during Tuesday’s Week Four draft.
• Pitcher Peyton St. George made the largest positive jump on the draft order in Week Four, rising 33 spots in the selection list. The former Duke standout, who was taken with the 43rd selection in Week Three, went to Team Kilfoyl in the third round (No. 10 overall) on Tuesday.
• Seven of captain Amanda Lorenz’s Week Three teammates have joined her again on the Gold team roster in Week Four, including pitchers Aleshia Ocasio, Kathryn Sandercock and Odicci Alexander, middle infielders Hannah Flippen and Kelsey Harshman, corner infielder Delanie Wisz and outfielder McKenzie Clark.
• Kilfoyl, meanwhile, chose eight of her Week Three teammates to be on her squad again in Week Four, including pitchers Sarah Willis and Peyton St. George, middle infielders Skylar Wallace and Sydney McKinney, catcher Hannah Borden, corner infielder Baylee Klingler and outfielders Caroline Jacobsen and Kayla Kowalik.
• Catcher Sashel Palacios is joined on the Week Four roster by just three of her teammates from last week – middle infielder Aubrey Leach, pitcher Valerie Cagle and corner infielder Sam Fischer.
• Kilfoyl, Fischer, McKinney and outfielder Jadelyn Allchin are the first four players this season to have the honor of wearing all four jersey colors.
• Sashel Palacios is one of seven players wearing the same jersey color for the third week in a row. She joins Faraimo, pitcher Kayla Beaver and outfielder Karli Spaid on the Purple squad for the third straight week, while outfielder Bubba Nickles, pitcher Hope Trautwein and catcher Jordyn Rudd-Lee are teammates on the Blue team for the third consecutive week.
• No player has worn the same jersey color in all four weeks this season.
• Alexander will be wearing the Gold jersey for the 11th time in her Championship Season career, including the fifth time in the last six weeks dating back to last season. The former James Madison star has worn the Gold jersey more than any other player in Championship Season history, besting the 10 weekly appearances by catcher Dejah Mulipola.
• Pitcher Georgina Corrick is wearing the Gold jersey for just the second time in her Championship Season career after being the fifth overall pick in Tuesday’s draft by Team Lorenz.
• Pitcher Alyssa Denham will be wearing the Orange jersey for the third time in three weeks this season. The former Arizona product was a member of the Orange unit in Weeks One and Two.
• Catcher Taylor Edwards is a member of the Gold team for just the third time in her Championship Season career after being taken by Team Lorenz on Tuesday. She also wore the Gold jersey in Week Two of the 2023 and 2024 Championship Seasons.
• Faraimo is wearing the Purple jersey for the fifth time in her nine career Championship Season weekly segments, the most of any color. She has not worn the Orange jersey during her Championship Season career.
• Corner infielder Andrea Filler was selected by the Purple team for the sixth time in the last two seasons after being chosen by Team Faraimo in the 12th round on Tuesday. The former Northwestern product has donned the Purple top eight times in her 14 career Championship Season weekly segments.
• Harshman was named to the Gold team for the second straight week, marking the fourth time in her AU Pro Softball Championship Season career (24 weeks) she has donned the Gold top. All four instances have come in the last two seasons.
• Outfielder Victoria Hayward will be wearing Gold for the ninth time in her Championship Season career. The nine selections to the Gold team are the second-highest total in the Washington alum’s career, trailing the 11 career picks to the Blue squad.
• Leach will be wearing the Orange top for the eighth time in her Championship Season career, including the fourth time in the last eight weeks. Leach, a Tennessee graduate, has worn the Orange jersey more than any other color in her AU Pro Softball career.
• Outfielder Haylie McCleney has been selected to the Purple team for the eighth time in her Championship Season career, including the sixth time in her last eight weeks.
• McQuillin is a member of the Orange team for the fifth time in the last eight weeks, including the third time this season, after being selected by Team Palacios on Tuesday.
• Ocasio will don the Gold jersey for the seventh time in her Championship Season career, including the fourth time in the last two seasons.
• Sashel Palacios has now worn the Orange jersey more than any other color in her Championship Season career after being named to the Orange unit for the eighth time in 24 career weeks.
• Outfielder Erika Piancastelli is wearing the Gold jersey for just the fourth time in 24 career Championship Season weekly segments after being taken by Team Lorenz in the ninth round on Tuesday.
• Corner infielder Kelsey Stewart-Hunter was selected by Team Lorenz in Tuesday’s Week Four draft, signaling the eighth time she has been named to the Gold team in her Championship Season career. The eight selections are the most of any jersey color in her Championship Season tenure.
• Catcher Gwen Svekis has now worn the Gold jersey nine times in her Championship Season career with her selection to Team Lorenz on Tuesday. However, it is just the third time in the last three seasons she has been a member of the Gold team.
• Middle infielder Anissa Urtez is a member of the Orange squad for the eighth time in her Championship Season career, the most of any jersey color over 24 weeks.
• Corner infielder Tori Vidales received her fourth career stint in the Orange uniform with her selection to Team Palacios on Tuesday. The four weeks in the Orange jersey are the fewest in Vidales’ Championship Season career among the league’s four jersey colors.
• Corner infielder Jessi Warren is donning Purple for the third time in her Championship Season career (19 weeks) after being picked by Team Faraimo on Tuesday. It is the first time she is wearing Purple since Week Four of the inaugural 2020 Championship Season.
• Outfielder Megan Wiggins earned her ninth career selection to the Orange team with her pick by Team Palacios on Tuesday. Wiggins and outfielder Erika Piancastelli have worn the Orange top more than any other player in Championship Season history.
• Wisz is wearing the Gold jersey for the fifth time in the last six weeks dating back to last season.