AUSL Unveils GMs, Head Coaches for 2025 Season

Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) today announced a highly decorated and seasoned group of softball veterans to serve as General Managers and Head Coaches of the inaugural four teams in the newest addition to the exploding pro women’s sports landscape set to start in June 2025.

This illustrious leadership group – which boasts among them nine Olympic medals, 11 NCAA championships (as players and coaches), and 26 NCAA All-American honors – features many of the top names from across the softball landscape. Their roles with the AUSL will be in addition to their existing positions.

The General Managers and Head Coaches will be paired as follows (see below for bios of each):

“This unprecedented collection of general managers and head coaches, with their decades of elite softball experience, unique perspectives, and intense drive, sets the stage for AUSL to meet the moment to deliver an action-packed, world-class softball league that this sport has deserved for so long,” said Kim Ng, Senior Advisor to the AUSL charged with designing and launching the league.

This group adds depth and experience to an incredible team working on league development, joining softball legends Jennie Finch, Jessica Mendoza, Osterman, and Natasha Watley who are advisors to the AUSL.

ESPN has signed on as a founding broadcast partner of the AUSL and will carry at least 30 games exclusively on its linear platforms (ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU) in 2025. Further details including touring locations, team names and logos, rosters, schedule, and additional broadcast partners will be announced at a later date.

The AUSL also announced the first group of players to sign with the new league, including Carley Hoover, a 2016 World Cup of Softball Silver Medalist for Team USA, and Dejah Mulipola, a 2020 Olympic Silver Medalist with Team USA, as well as Erin Coffel, Payton Gottshall, Kayla Kowalik, Aubrey Leach, Mariah Mazon, Jordan Roberts, Anissa Urtez, Jessi Warren and Morgan Zerkle.

The General Managers will assemble their rosters from a list that includes these players and others, beginning with the AUSL Allocation Draft, which will take place in early 2025. There will also be a college draft later in the spring, allowing each team to fill out its final roster spots. Details regarding both drafts will be announced at a later date.

GENERAL MANAGERS

Lisa Fernandez

• One of the most recognizable names in the history of softball, Lisa Fernandez is the Associate Head Softball Coach at UCLA, entering her 27th season on the Bruins’ coaching staff. In her 26 seasons at her alma mater, the Bruins have posted a 1,212-259-2 (.822) record and have claimed five NCAA championships (1999, 2003, 2004, 2010, and 2019). A three-time Olympic gold medal winner for Team USA (1996, 2000, and 2004), Fernandez posted a 0.33 ERA in the 1996 Olympics and earned the save in the United States’ gold medal victory over China during the sport’s inaugural appearance in the Olympics. One of the sport’s greatest college players, Fernandez was a two-time national champion and four-time First-Team All-American while starring for the Bruins from 1990-93.

Cat Osterman

• A three-time Olympian and four-time All-American, Cat Osterman pitched for Team USA from 2001 to 2010 and from 2019-2021, and competed in the 2004, 2008, and 2020 Olympics, earning a gold medal in 2004. She earned four National Pro Fastpitch titles and was named Championship MVP three times. A native of Houston and a University of Texas standout, Osterman led the Longhorns to three Women’s College World Series appearances in 2003, 2005, and 2006. She also became the only person to win USA Softball’s National Player of the Year honors three times. Osterman was the champion of Athletes Unlimited’s inaugural softball season in 2020 and finished her professional career with Athletes Unlimited in 2021 before joining the AU Advisory Board in 2023. 

Jenny Dalton-Hill

• A three-time College Softball World Series champion with the Arizona Wildcats (1993, 94 & 96), Jenny Dalton-Hill was the first college softball player ever to hit .400 with 50 home runs, 200 RBIs and a .800 slugging percentage in a career, was a three time first team All-American, and the Pac-10 Player of the Year, the Women’s College World Series Most Outstanding Player and National Player of the year as a senior. A softball analyst for ESPN, Dalton-Hill played for Team USA during college and also played for the USA Baseball women’s national team after college, earning a bronze medal at the 2010 Women’s Baseball World Cup. 

Dana Sorensen

• A former Stanford pitching standout, Dana Sorensen was a three-time NFCA All-American who played in two College Softball World Series and was inducted into the Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame. While competing in the NPF, she pursued her Master’s Degree in Sports Administration from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.  Dana went on to spend three seasons as an assistant coach and Physical Education Instructor at UC Davis in addition to two years as an assistant softball coach at Oregon State. More recently, she returned to her hometown of San Diego to pursue her passion of training and human performance, eventually opening her own pitching instruction and sports performance training business, Sorensen Elite Softball Pitching LLC. In addition to running Sorensen Elite Softball Pitching LLC, Dana currently also works alongside Nate Walker and Diamond Solutions to provide pitching data and analytics strategies for collegiate softball programs. 

HEAD COACHES

Howard Dobson

• Howard Dobson spent the past 13 seasons as an assistant coach at LSU, most recently as the program’s hitting coach. During his time with the Tigers, the program saw its offensive numbers surge to new heights with 15 individual single-season records, 10 individual career records along with 16 offensive season records broken. Dobson’s hitters at LSU have collected 13 All-American awards, 12 All-SEC First Team honors, and 14 All-SEC Second Team honors. Dobson was heavily involved with USA Softball from 2012-2021 and helped coach Team USA to a WBSC World Championship in 2020 with a 7-6 walk-off win, securing a spot for Team USA in the Tokyo Olympics where they went on to win the silver medal. Previously, Dobson spent four seasons as the head coach of Southern Miss (2008-11) and five seasons as an assistant coach at Oklahoma (2003-07).

Kelly Kretschman

• A member of Team USA’s 2004 & 2008 Olympic teams, Kelly Kretschman played college softball at Alabama where she is the career leader in doubles and total bases. She also played extensively in the NPF, where she was a nine-time All-NPF team selection, Offensive Player of the Year in 2016 and 2017, and a three-time NPF Player of the Year (2015-2017). She also served as the head coach of the USSSA Pride, first in the NPF and more recently in the WPF. 

Alisa Goler 

• Entering her fifth season as head softball coach at Western Illinois University, Alisa Goler previously was part of the coaching staff at Penn State, Syracuse, and Roosevelt University in addition to a seven-year competitive career in the NPF, where she was named Rookie of the Year in 2011 and earned two All-NPF Team commendations. A three-time All-American at the University of Georgia, Goler participated in the 2009 and 2010 NCAA Women’s College World Series, while setting UGA single-season records for batting average (.455), slugging percentage (.994), on-base percentage (.551), home runs (24), extra-base hits (41), RBI (83), and total bases (164). Earlier this summer, she worked with the USA Elite team as they competed in the Japan Cup Series, as well as with the USA 18U Junior National Team, which qualified for the 2025 WBSC World Cup. 

Stacey Nuveman-Deniz

• A two-time Olympic gold medalist (2000 and 2004), Stacey Nuveman-Deniz also guided Team USA to the 2008 Olympic silver medal and was named the head softball coach at San Diego State University in 2021 after 13 years as an assistant coach for the team. He is a two-time Mountain West coach of the year and led her program to three consecutive Mountain West championships, three NCAA regional appearances as well as the program’s first-ever Super Regional appearance in 2023. She was previously named head coach of the National Pro Fastpitch’s Chicago Bandits for the 2018 season, piloting the Bandits to the NPF Championship Series in her first year. A standout at UCLA, Nuveman Deniz ended her four-year career with NCAA records in home runs, slugging percentage, walks, and intentional walks, with her 90 home runs now ranking third all-time.