Utah Talons unveil 2025 AUSL championship banner before Opening Day
Jun 9, 2026, 7:30 PM | Updated: Jun 10, 2026, 10:43 am
The Utah Talons opened the 2026 AUSL season on Tuesday, June 9, against the Chicago Bandits at Dumke Family Softball Stadium. (Photo courtesy Brian Preece)
(Photo courtesy Brian Preece)
SALT LAKE CITY – Opening day arrives with a little extra juice for the Utah Talons. The defending Athletes Unlimited Softball League champions begin their title defense Tuesday night at Dumke Family Softball Stadium, and the first test comes against a familiar foe.
Utah opens the 2026 season against the Chicago Bandits in a rematch of last year’s championship series, a two-game sweep that delivered the Talons the first league title in franchise history. Now the setting shifts to Salt Lake City, where Utah begins a new summer with the burden and benefit of being the team everyone wants to chase.
That pursuit of another championship started in the offseason, when general manager Lisa Fernandez retooled the roster with seven new additions. But the core reason for Utah’s confidence is the same one that carried it through 2025: a roster built on dominant pitching, airtight defense, and enough athleticism to pressure opponents in every inning.
RELATED: Defending AUSL champion Utah Talons arrive in the Beehive State
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It starts in the circle, where Utah may again boast the league’s most intimidating staff.
Right-handers Georgina Corrick, Montana Fouts, and Megan Faraimo return to form the heart of that group. It’s a trio that gives the Talons power, pedigree, and proven production.
Corrick earned 2025 AUSL Pitcher of the Year honors after leading the league in ERA at 2.04 while piling up six wins and four saves.
Fouts gives Utah another frontline option. She gets the ball on opening night, a fitting assignment for the ace who helped set the tone for Utah’s championship run.
Last season, she ranked near the top of the AUSL in suppressing contact and slammed the door on Chicago with a complete-game shutout in a 1-0 championship clincher.
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Then there is Faraimo, whose 38 strikeouts in 41.1 innings showed why Utah can attack hitters in waves. Few teams can match that kind of depth, and even fewer can do it while asking opponents to scratch for every baserunner.
Utah’s returning position group gives the Talons the same kind of stability everywhere else.
Outfielders Jadelyn Allchin and Caroline Jacobsen, infielders Bri Ellis and Hannah Flippen, utility player Sahvanna Jaquish, and catcher Sharlize Palacios all return from last season’s title team, bringing back to the lineup.
Flippen remains one of the most important pieces in that foundation.
The former Utah star earned 2025 AUSL Defensive Player of the Year honors after helping anchor the infield at second base, where she posted a .971 fielding percentage and paired elite defense with a productive bat. She hit .296 last season while finishing among the league leaders with 20 RBI and 17 runs scored.
That defensive identity was everywhere for Utah in 2025.
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The Talons led the AUSL with a .980 fielding percentage and committed just 13 errors in 24 games, turning routine plays into outs and difficult chances into momentum swings. Utah was especially sound up the middle, with Allchin covering ground in the outfield, Palacios controlling the game behind the plate, and Corrick handling her position well enough to earn a place on the inaugural AUSL All-Defensive Team.
Allchin added another layer to Utah’s profile as an on-base threat and catalyst. She led the Talons with a .483 on-base percentage, posted a 1.063 OPS, and went a perfect 8-for-8 on stolen-base attempts, the kind of table-setting production that can turn a well-pitched game into a long night for the opposition.
Utah Talons 2026 Opening Day roster
Pitchers
12 | Dallas Escobedo Magee | ARizona State
14 | Montana Fouts | Alabama
22 | Georgina Corrick | South Florida
80 | Megan Faraimo | UCLA
Catcher/Utility
13 | Sharlize Palacios | UCLA
27 | Sahvanna Jaquish | LSU
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Infielders
15 | Rachel Becker | Purdue/Oklahoma State
19 | Hanna Flippen | Utah
28 | Maddie Moore | Clemson
77 | Bri Ellis | Arkansas
Outfielders
1 | Caroline Jacobsen | Duke/Clemson
11 | Aliyah Andrews | LSU
24 | Jayda Coleman | Oklahoma
42 | Jadelyn Allchin | Washington/UCLA
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The Talons open the 2026 season at Dumke Family Softball Stadium on Tuesday, June 9. Utah hosts the Chicago Bandits in a rematch of the 2025 AUSL championship series.
Find the Talons 2026 season schedule here.
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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.
