| Hearst – Austin Transition
The Athletes United Softball League’s next stop is Dell Diamond this weekend for a four-game series.
The trip to Central Texas will also be familiar for some on the between the Bandits (11-7) and Volts (6-12).
Bandits outfielder Bella Dayton, catcher Mary Iakopo and Volts infielder Mia Scott, graduated from Texas; Bandits pitcher Emiley Kennedy is a recent Texas A&M graduate.
After playing overseas for a few months, Dayton was one of the final picks in the inaugural AUSL draft in January. Kennedy was a Golden Ticket recipient in the spring and was the seventh overall pick in May’s amateur draft. Scott was a late addition to the Volts after helping secure Texas softball’s first national championship in Oklahoma City. Iakopo was first drafted into pro ball in 2022.
Professional softball leagues have been established, dissolved, revived and dissolved again over the past 30 years or so. The Women’s Pro Softball League was founded in 1997 with many iterations since trying to find their footing. But with Major League Baseball’s investment into the AUSL, former college stars can pick up the glove again.
“I knew there was a chance…,” Dayton said Tuesday afternoon about playing in a U.S.-based pro league.
The opportunity to play softball close to home is something that Dayton and Kennedy are already enjoying in days leading up to the weekend series. Dayton had dinner with some teammates and friends upon arriving in Round Rock, while Kennedy’s family will be coming in from The Woodlands near Houston.
“I think Dell Diamond’s gonna be rocking this weekend, so it’s going to be exciting to see the league and to be a part of it’s awesome,” Kennedy said.
Longhorn homecoming
When looking at the Longhorn softball record books, Dayton’s name is sprinkled throughout.
She finished her career at Texas with 155 starts, a .330 batting average and more walks (62) than strikeouts (54). She also stole 25 bases and was a great postseason performer, hitting multiple home runs and having an 11-game hit streak.
After graduating in 2024, she played softball in Europe and in Mexico. She knew it was possible to play pro ball in the States, and held faith for more opportunities to play would come knocking. When they did, Dayton had little expectations.
“The people that I’ve been around and the growth that I’ve made as a person in a player just in the last month and a half, I think it’s just been an amazing experience, and I couldn’t have asked for a better start,” she explained.
So far with the Bandits, Dayton has 17 hits, 11 runs and five RBIs while batting .327.
Compared to college where pressure can loom in the classroom and at the field, Dayton says she now gets to play freer than before. She can focus on fixing things with other professionals who have the same passion and dedication as she does because, “this is my job.”
Some of those professionals are former teammates.
Iakopo, a fellow Longhorn, has scored four runs for the Bandits with a perfect fielding percentage and 45 putouts, for second-highest on the team. Iakopo and Dayton play the Volts this weekend who have the third Texas-ex in the AUSL, Mia Scott.
Dayton says that part of being a Longhorn is always having Texas fight, but there is something bigger playing with the AUSL.
“I think the legacy in itself is especially this being the first AUSL season to have people come from Texas. There’s three of us, and to write that down and know that this is just the start of professional softball. How many girls from Texas can, you know, be a part of this (in the coming) years is something to look forward to,” Dayton said.
Aggies standout Emiley Kennedy returns to Texas
Kennedy (0-1, 4.71 ERA) is not a Longhorn, but the former Aggie still gets some love from the masses. She finished her A&M career with 70 wins and 568 strikeouts over 620 innings pitched, all top 10 in the Aggies’ record books.
“I’ve gotten some fans come up to me and say like, ‘I’m a Longhorn fan’ or, ‘I’m an OU fan, but like, I’ve always loved you and your career.’ And I was like, ‘This is weird,'” she chuckled.
The legendary Texas A&M lefty did not have the end of college she hoped for after the No. 1 seeded Aggies became the first top seed eliminated in the regional round of the NCAA Tournament. But a week after the loss, Kennedy, A&M’s first left-handed All-American pitcher in decades, was on a plane to Chicago for training camp.
In her rookie season with the Bandits, Kennedy has seven strikeouts through 16⅓ innings pitched. It’s a learning curve going from college softball to the pros but she gets to learn from other experienced pitchers.
“It’s good to pick my other pitchers’ heads. Taylor McQuillin has been big about watching swings, watching film and like how to beat (two-time NFCA National Player of the Year) Rachel Garcia, nine times. You’re not used to seeing people who hit the hit your missed pitch out of the yard a long way. So just learning how to get the best hitters out continuously, which has been a tough, a tough stride,” Kennedy said.
Now in the pros, Kennedy is taking each game day-by-day. But, like Dayton, she also feels more free. One of the biggest changes for her is having a full staff in the bullpen so she doesn’t have to be “the dog” anymore. She now gets to learn and throw in hopes to have a successful career in the league.
“I’m hoping I’m a little bit of a impact coming into AUSL and just being able to be a part of history… AU is going to be growing, and it’s going to be something that’s, I think, going to be huge,” Kennedy said.
The Bandits and Volts open the series 6 p.m. Thursday at Dell Diamond, about 25 miles north of downtown Dallas.
