AUSL In Seattle Preview: Klingler’s Blaze And Bates’ Volts Set To Square Off

By Charles Hamaker

Seattle, WA - The time has finally come for the Athletes Unlimited Softball League, Athletes Unlimited’s professional softball league in it’s inaugural season, to make it’s stop at Husky Softball Stadium as the Blaze and Volts square off for a three-game weekend series. The league, featuring four teams, has been playing it’s game this year across the country at different sites, with Seattle being the lone West coast stop as most of the locations are in the midwestern or southern states. There are five former University of Washington players participating in the league, with two of them meeting in this series as Blaze infielder Baylee Klingler and Volts infielder Sis Bates return to the place that helped launch their softball careers to great heights. Bates and Klingler dazzled on Montlake, helping continue the prominence of Washington’s softball program as their play earned them opportunities on the international stage representing the United States before playing in professional leagues which now includes the AUSL. Here are some key notes to be aware of before this series begins tonight at Husky Softball Stadium, as all three games this weekend are already sold out.

We always thought Seattle would be a great place for us, just in terms of how they view women’s sports. They have welcomed several women’s pro teams with open arms.
— Kim Ng, AUSL commissioner.

Baylee Klinger in her Blaze uniform. (Photo via the Athletes Unlimited Softball League)

Husky stars stellar so far for their teams

Baylee Klingler, a hard hitting third baseman from Texas that lit things up at the University of Washington during her time in purple and gold, is currently hitting .444 with a slugging percentage of .694 to rank fourth in the AUSL in both categories and has been one of the most impressive players in the league to this point because of her success at the plate. It shouldn’t be much of a surprise that Klingler is seeing this level of success so far, given her strong resume as a Husky including being named as a a two-time All-American and the Pac-12 Player of the Year her senior season at UW, but the Blaze as a whole haven’t been able to help assist her as they sit at the bottom of the league standings with a 3-12 record. Klingler’s strong hitting and pedigree for success in the sport, having been named a three-time All-America selection who started all 197 games in her four-year career at Washington from 2020-23 and finished with a .420 batting average, will continue to be a positive for the Blaze even if they can’t get things turned around.

Sis Bates in her Volts uniform. (Photo via the Athletes Unlimited Softball League)

Sis Bates, the superstar shortstop that lit up college softball with her remarkable defensive ability during her time as a Husky, has had a decent start to her time in the league with the Volts. Bates and her play at shortstop have helped the Volts put their fielding percentage as the second best in the league, but their overall record has struggled like the Blaze as they sit 5-10 and third in the standings. Bates is slashing .211/.250/.211 with just four hits and a walk to her name at the plate this season across eleven games played with the Volts. Her return to a stadium that saw her gain so much success as a slap hitter and defensive savant, who started 261 games for the Huskies from 2017-21 and closed her career as Washington’s all-time leading hitter with 320 hits, could help jump start her season and help the Volts get rolling.

Where the teams sit at this point in the season

Despite sitting at the bottom of the standings in the AUSL, the Blaze have some strong offensive numbers and that’s a product of Klingler’s success. Since being limited to just one hit against the Bandits on June 20 in Wichita, the Blaze have collected at least eight hits in five of their last six games, including four contests with 10 or more base hits. The Blaze, who rank second in the league with 127 hits, have tallied 62 hits in the last six outings, including 21 extra-base hits. The Blaze lead the AUSL with a .339 batting average with runners on base, including a 29-for-49 clip (.592) with a runner on third base and less than two outs.

While the Volts sit two games ahead of the Blaze in the standings, they don’t have the sort of offensive production to show for a potential turnaround that the team they’re facing this weekend do. The Volts have not scored in their 15 offensive innings after being shut out by the Talons in both games during their series earlier this week. The Volts’ last run came in the fifth inning against the Bandits on Monday on a solo home run by infielder Tiare Jennings. The Volts, who have scored a league-low 53 runs in 15 games this season, have been shut out four times, including three instances in the last six contests. Their pitching staff has been a positive, as they lead the AUSL with a 3.44 earned run average entering tonight’s series opener against the Blaze. The staff has allowed a league-low 60 runs in the first 15 games this season and has held opponents to four runs or less in 10-of-15 games.

The two teams reunite at Husky Softball Stadium tonight for the first of three meetings this weekend, a three-game series that will feature the final installments of the regular season series between the two teams. Both teams are searching for a bounce back effort after dropping the final game of their respective series in Rosemont back on Wednesday. Baylee Klingler’s Blaze forced the Bandits into extra innings on a two-run home run by outfielder Kalei Harding, but could not complete the comeback in a 5-4 setback in eight innings. For Sis Bates’ Volts, they are coming off being blanked by the league leading Talons for the second game in a row following a 2-0 loss in the nightcap. This will be their sixth time meeting in the regular season series tonight, as the Volts own a 4-1 advantage in the series and have won the last two installments after a two-game sweep in Wichita on June 17th through 19th. Each of the first five meetings took place in Wichita.

What this series could mean for the city

As mentioned in our previous article when Bates and Klingler returned to the Pacific Northwest as part of the leagues preseason tour, Seattle could be the home of a team in the AUSL as soon as next season. The league, currently made up of four teams that will play 24 total games on the season across ten cities over the United States, is looking at the cities with the most fan support. Depending on the support and the fit that the city can provide a team, the AUSL will determine which locations will become top contenders to be selected as a home base, as the league makes plans to expand to six city-based teams in 2026. Seattle already has shown the country that it’s essentially a hub for women’s sports, with the Seattle Storm, Seattle Reign FC, Seattle Tempest, Seattle Majestics, and PWHL Seattle all calling the area home in different sports spanning from basketball, soccer, ultimate frisbee, tackle football, and hockey. Given the support that the area has shown to the University of Washington’s softball program over the years, as Heather Tarr has built a powerhouse that’s competed year in and year out despite all sorts of changes, Seattle would make a strong option for the league to look at and sources indicate to Circling Seattle Sports that the Emerald City may already have a league up on other options with the series not even being played here yet.

We would love for discussions to happen where we can really talk about how something like that could be accomplished. The University of Washington, with the several players that we have and Coach Heather Tarr, I spoke with her, and her history with UW and the national team, there is a rich history of softball from the program there and the success they have had there. It is definitely on our radar for sure.
— Kim Ng, AUSL commissioner, about establishing a Seattle team.
That would be the literal dream come true. I’m not quite sure, but let’s just throw it into the universe that it is going to happen.
— Sis Bates, Volts infielder, on potential Seattle expansion.
We are already living the dream, but that would put the cherry on top. If we had a say in it, there would be a team in Seattle for sure.
— Baylee Klingler, Blaze infielder, on potential Seattle expansion.

Details on the series

  • Friday, July 11th

    • First pitch time: 7PM PDT

    • Where to watch: MLB.COM

      • Play-by-Play: Eric Collins Analyst: Danielle Lawrie

        • All options to watch this game include: FDSN, Marquee, Fox Chicago, MSG, NESN Nation, SNP+, MLB.com, AWSN

    • Pitching matchup:

      • Emma Lemley for the Blaze (1-3 record, 4.27 ERA) versus Rachel Garcia for the Volts (3-3 record, 2.65 ERA).

    • Ceremonial first pitch: Megan Rapinoe, Sue Bird

      • Seattle Reign FC and USWNT legend Megan Rapinoe and Seattle Storm and USA women’s basketball legend Sue Bird, Seattle’s most accomplished power couple, will be on hand at Husky Softball Stadium for the ceremonial first pitch to begin the three-game weekend series. The involvement of these two in the first pitch of this event seems to be a sign of a great welcome from the Seattle sports community to the AUSL.

    • Giveaway: Cowbell giveaway to the first 500 fans in attendance.

  • Saturday, July 12th

    • First pitch time: 6PM PDT

    • Where to watch: MLB.COM

      • Play-by-Play: Eric Collins Analyst: Danielle Lawrie

        • All options to watch this game include: FDSN, Fox Chicago, MSG, NESN, SNP+, MLB.com, WSN

    • Pitching matchup: Aliyah Binford for the Blaze (0-0 record, 11.45 ERA) versus Sam Landry for the Volts (1-3 record, 3.92 ERA).

    • Giveaway: Boomsticks giveaway to the first 500 fans in attendance.

  • Sunday, July 13th

    • First pitch time: 1PM PDT

    • Where to watch: MLB.COM

      • Play-by-Play: Eric Collins Analyst: Danielle Lawrie

        • All options to watch this game include: FDSN, Marquee, Fox Chicago, MSG, NESN Nation, MLB.com, AWSN

    • Pitching matchup: Alana Vawter for the Blaze (1-3 record, 4.27 ERA) versus Mariah Mazón for the Volts (0-2 record, 5.65 ERA).

    • Giveaway and promotions: Little League Day + Light Up Rally Towel giveaway for the first 500 fans in attendance.

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Follow our accounts dedicated strictly to University of Washington athletics! Instagram: @CSS_UWHuskies Twitter: @CSS_College

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