Utah Talons chase AUSL history in championship rematch with Chicago Bandits
Jul 24, 2026, 1:24 PM
Utah Talons outfielder Jayda Coleman sprints around third base at Dumke Family Softball Stadium in a July 3 game against the Carolina Blaze. (Photo courtesy AUSL)
(Photo courtesy AUSL)
SALT LAKE CITY – It’s déjà vu all over again for the Utah Talons and Chicago Bandits in the AUSL championship.
A year after sweeping the Bandits for the inaugural Athletes Unlimited Softball League championship, the defending champion Talons will meet Chicago once more with a title on the line — this time on the biggest stage the sport has ever seen.
Game 1 of the best-of-three series Saturday at Davis Diamond in College Station, Texas, will air on ABC at 11 a.m. MT, marking network television’s first-ever pro softball broadcast.
RELATED: Talons clinch top seed, earn spot in AUSL Championship Series
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The matchup is a collision of identities: Utah’s league-best pitching staff against Chicago’s league-leading lineup. The stakes for the Talons are simple — become the first repeat champion in AUSL history.
Utah and Chicago finished the regular season with identical 16-9 records.
The Talons earned the No. 1 seed by winning four of five games against the Bandits this season, including a three-game sweep in Salt Lake City to open the year. Four of those five meetings were decided by three runs or fewer, with three ending in one-run margins and two heading to extra innings.
The Bandits, meanwhile, had to survive just to get here.
Chicago needed 11 innings and an Ailana Agbayani walk-off single to outlast the Portland Cascade 6-5 in Thursday’s play-in game — the longest contest in league history. Relief pitcher Lexi Kilfoyl logged seven innings to earn the win.
Utah’s pitching vs. Chicago’s bats
The Talons ran back their Year 1 winning formula: pair a stout defense and deep lineup with an ascendant pitching staff headlined by Montana Fouts, Megan Faraimo and 2025 AUSL Pitcher of the Year Georgina Corrick.
Five Utah pitchers combined to lead the league with a 2.67 ERA, 143 strikeouts and 16 complete games. The staff also allowed the fewest runs (76), earned runs (66) and hits (161) during the regular season.
Fouts emerged as the league’s most dominant arm, setting AUSL single-season records with seven wins, seven complete games and 63 strikeouts in 62.1 innings.
She was at her best against the Bandits, posting a 1.19 ERA in two complete-game performances against Chicago this season, including a 10-strikeout gem on July 18.
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Last year, Fouts tossed a complete-game shutout to clinch the title in a 1-0 Game 2 victory over these same Bandits. Chicago knows what’s coming. Whether it can solve her is another question entirely.
International commitments limited Corrick’s availability this season, but she was equally effective when in the circle, finishing with an AUSL-leading 1.12 ERA and four complete games.
The Talons’ pitching will be tested against Chicago’s league-leading offense.
Sami Williams and Skylar Wallace headline a dynamic Bandits lineup that led the AUSL in batting average and on-base percentage. Chicago paced the league with 139 runs, 130 RBIs, 39 doubles, and nine triples.
Williams’ 32 hits tied for the league lead, and she set AUSL records with 34 RBIs and 12 doubles. She played her best when it mattered most, hitting an astounding .593 with runners in scoring position.
Wallace became the first qualified player in league history to finish with a .500 batting average, slashing .500/.574/1.553 across 15 games. She added six home runs and 17 RBIs.
Repeat or revenge?
A year ago, the Talons needed just two games to dispatch Chicago and claim the first championship in AUSL history. Fouts delivered the final blow with a shutout, and the celebration launched a league still finding its footing into the national conversation.
Now the AUSL arrives at Davis Diamond with two teams that know each other as well as any rivalry in the sport.
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The Talons have the pitching, the pedigree and the head-to-head edge.
The Bandits have the bats, the resilience of an 11-inning survive-and-advance thriller and the motivation of a team that remembers how last year ended.
Something has to give — and this time, the whole country will be watching.
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How to watch the 2026 AUSL Championship Series
Utah Talons vs. Chicago Bandits
Game 1: Saturday, September 12, 2026
Venue: Davis Diamond
Location: College Station, Texas
First pitch: 11 a.m. MT
Television: ABC
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The Talons secured the first championship in AUSL history with a two-game sweep of the Bandits in 2025.
Presumptive Pitcher of the Year favorite Montana Fouts twirled a complete-game shutout in a 1-0 Talons win to clinch the title.
Nine players remain from the inaugural title-winning team.
Follow the AUSL & Talons with KSL Sports
Game Two of the AUSL Championship will be on Sunday at Noon MT on ESPN. If necessary, Game 3 will be played Monday at 5 p.m. MT on ESPN2.
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Brian Preece is a sports.ksl.com insider covering Locals in MLB and the Salt Lake Bees. Follow Brian’s Bees and Beehive baseball here. Find Brian on X, Instagram, and BlueSky at @bpreece24.
