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The Athletes Unlimited Softball League‘s Talons made history on July 27 by clinching the first-ever AUSL Championship in history. After withstanding two rain delays, the Talons swept the best-of-three series with a 1-0 Game 2 victory in a moment that's been years in the making for fans. The long-awaited professional softball league, partnered with MLB, couldn't have scripted a better finish to its inaugural season.
“What a day to make history,” Talons manager Howard Dobson summed up perfectly.
Perhaps the team's standout moment of Game 1 came on the first pitch of the bottom of the fourth inning. Tori Vidales' home run marked the first-ever in the AUSL championship contest, which evened the score with the Bandits at 1-1 and swung the momentum in the Talons' favor before they sealed a 3-1 win.
Vidales is more than just a star softball player who's made appearances for Team Mexico in the 2020 Olympics, with Texas A&M in college, and in the AUSL All-Star Cup. She's also been an SEC Network softball analyst for years, trading in her commentary skills for a return to the diamond.
“For me, I was just really trying to find my swing, and somehow my dad shows up, and my swing just shows up with him,” Vidales said postgame. “It was fun to do that in front of my parents and my grandma, who's also here, and really just do that in a moment where we needed it most.”
Montana Fouts started Game 2 and delivered a shutout with her team's season on the line. Even with the second rain delay of the day coming between the fourth and fifth innings and lasting an hour and a half, Fouts made sure she and her teammates remained focused.
“Everybody stayed locked in,” Fouts detailed. “You know that you're going to go back out there. You just do whatever you need to do so that when you step back out on that field, you're ready to go.”
The showdown wasn't just important to Fouts because it was the AUSL championship — she was also having a homecoming moment as she returned to Rhoads Stadium, where she finished her storied college career just two years ago in 2023.
“This is home to me,” Fouts said postgame about returning to her alma mater, Alabama. “This is the place that's helped shape who I am. Fans continue to come out, I've seen people that I haven't seen in the last five years that were in this crowd. I'm very appreciative of that.”
Montana Magic 🪄 @MontanaFouts threw complete game shutout to secure the AUSL title at her alma mater! pic.twitter.com/EcVmFLFACD
— Talons | AUSL (@AUSL_Talons) July 27, 2025
Sydney Romero's home run, which sealed the deal for the Talons in the second-to-last inning, was one of the only hits given up by the Bandits, who remained neck-and-neck with the Talons throughout the season and finished in second place. Romero gave some insight into what was going through her head as she secured the championship for her squad.
“I was just looking for something over the plate, and [she threw] a changeup that stayed elevated, and it went right for my barrel,” Romero said. “I knew it was gone. I was super excited. Emotions kind of just took over, and I don't know, it felt good.”
SYDNEY ROMERO TAKES FLIGHT 🦅
Talons have a 1-0 lead in the top of the 6th.pic.twitter.com/hXZUEyqOMI
— AUSL (@theAUSLofficial) July 27, 2025
The Talons and AUSL are ending off the campaign on a high, reaching record-setting attendance numbers, attracting massive social media engagement, and achieving new heights in popularity that only seem to be heading toward more growth in the years to come.
