Softball Season 3: Movers of Week 3

Without a sweep or dominant collection of innings wins, the win points were spread fairly evenly across the three teams.

• Team Jaquish (2-1) took home the most with 210 pts
• Team Chidester (1-2) and Team McCleney (2-1) tied it up at 190 pts
• Team Mulipola (2-1) was right behind bringing in 130 pts

Mover of the Week: Kelsey Harshman

Making the biggest leap this week on the leaderboard is Kelsey Harshman, rising 16 spots from No. 28 to No. 12.

Harshman has bounced around on the board quite a bit this season. A captain in Week 2, her team struggled to win a game and despite her individually sound performances, she fell from the top four down the leaderboard. But being on Team Jaquish and the highest overall point earner in Week 3 propelled her back up.

Bases = Cleared @Kelsey_Harshman helps her team’s cause with a bases clearing double 😈#AUSB | 📺 EPSN+ pic.twitter.com/XcPoLJEbYX

— Athletes Unlimited (@AUProSports) August 6, 2022

She raked in 126 stat points (the most of any athlete besides Dejah Mulipola, who she trailed by two points). She hit three doubles, two singles, and a home run to comprise a majority of her earnings.

Honorable Mentions

These two athletes haven’t broken into the top half of the leaderboard yet but they made up some serious ground to try and work their way up during the midpoint of the season.

Danielle Gibson rose 14 spots and Tori Vidales upped her position by 13.

Gibson’s highlights of the weekend came in the final game on Sunday night when she went 2-for-4 at the plate. She was the momentum Team McCleney needed for the victory, recording her first home run of the season in the second inning. She claimed a game-high 210 leaderboard points and MVP 1 honors.

"Man, it was fun to compete with these girls." – @danielleeee41 🧡@savannaecollins | #AUSB pic.twitter.com/YxZ4kuhUuZ

— Athletes Unlimited (@AUProSports) August 15, 2022

Vidales’ hot night at the plate also came late in the week when she helped propel Team Jaquish to a win. She logged a three-hit performance with an RBI and knocked her second homer of the season on Saturday night. Vidales was in desperate need of win points, and being a part of Team Jaquish helped her up that stat category.

Into the top 10

As Athletes Unlimited Softball enters into the back half of the season, now is the time for the players to cozy up closer to the top spots as games – and opportunities to earn points – wind down. Each of these athletes broke into the Top 10 on the leaderboard during Week 3, the place to be as the race for medalists picks up speed.

• Danielle O’Toole made the most moves to find her way into this group, up 9 spots
  • How she did it: O’Toole threw her second complete game of the season to open up the weekend on Friday night. She allowed just six hits and a single earned run to claim MVP 1 honors, finishing the night with 244 leaderboard points.
• Victoria Hayward notched up three spots to No. 8 in the rankings
  • How she did it: Consistency is often the name of the game for Hayward and this season is no different. She’s on a 16 consecutive game hit streak and second in the league in hits with 15 total on the season across nine games.
• Sam Fischer bumped up six spots to No. 7 in the rankings
  • How she did it: Fischer recorded a multi-home run performance on Friday night to bank MVP 1 honors and secure 248 leaderboard points. She went 2-for-2 with her two home runs plus a walk and three RBIs.

"That was really cold and it's all in my pants" – @samfischer52

2 Home Runs = a well deserved Gatorade bath for Sam Fischer 🥶@savannaecollins | #BeUnlimited pic.twitter.com/uTIkNbmsto

— Athletes Unlimited (@AUProSports) August 13, 2022

Unmoving and upcoming this week: the 4 captains

For the first time at Athletes Unlimited, not only do we have the same captains for back-t0-back weeks but they finished in the exact same order on the leaderboard.

It’s a tight race amongst this group and will be interesting to see what changes they make and the success they try to recreate in Week 4.

The action starts back up on Friday with a pair of doubleheaders. Tune in for both games on ESPN+ for Team Jaquish vs. Team McCleney at 6:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. CT and Team Mulipola vs. Team Chidester at 9 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. CT.

Savanna Collins is the Digital Media Reporter at Athletes Unlimited. You can follow her on Twitter @savannaecollins.