Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're booking
Speaker 1: a flight to Connecticut to pick up a six pack
Speaker 1: of seventy eight to O Hazy Ipa from Tina Charles'
Speaker 1: new seventy eight brewing company. Naming your first release after
Speaker 1: your back to back undefeated thirty nine to O seasons
Speaker 1: at Yukon cheers. It's Thursday, July thirtieth. Then on Today Show,
Speaker 1: Utah Talents catcher Charlie's Palacios joins US fresh Offer team
Speaker 1: second straight AUSL Championship win. We talk about the rivalry
Speaker 1: between the Talons and the Chicago Bandits, why she thinks
Speaker 1: catchers have to be a little bit crazy, how she
Speaker 1: found her confidence on the field, and the one thing
Speaker 1: she'd change about the league for next season. Plus homeward bound.
Speaker 1: So much for a break, and come on, Barbie, let's
Speaker 1: go party. It's all coming up right after this Welcome
Speaker 1: back slices. Here's what you need to know today, starting
Speaker 1: with Soccer Got Them FC announced Tuesday that veteran defender
Speaker 1: Emily Sonnet underwent surgery this week after leaving the pitch
Speaker 1: on a stretcher early in Friday's match against the Portland
Speaker 1: Thorns at Providence Park. In a press conference acting Got
Speaker 1: Them FC head coach Sean Harris didn't say exactly what
Speaker 1: the surgery was for, but he said quote, we're really
Speaker 1: gutted and devastated that we're losing such a key player
Speaker 1: at this moment in the season, but we wish her
Speaker 1: all the best end quote. We'll keep you posted as
Speaker 1: more details come out. The injury comes just one month
Speaker 1: after Sonnet signed a contract extension with the club through
Speaker 1: the twenty twenty eight season. Sonnet also, of course, a
Speaker 1: key piece for the US women's national team, who ff
Speaker 1: qualifiers this fall ahead of next year's World Cup. More
Speaker 1: nwsl BFC announced on Wednesday the club is activated defender
Speaker 1: Abby Dalkemper from maternity leave. The Bay Area native was
Speaker 1: available for selection for Wednesday's match against Got Them, but
Speaker 1: we're recording this before kickoff, so you'll have to see
Speaker 1: if dal Kemper got any minutes. She welcomed her baby,
Speaker 1: little Eli James, this past February. Welcome back, Abby. More Soccer.
Speaker 1: The Women's Africa Cup of Nations is underway and we've
Speaker 1: already seen one of the biggest upsets in tournamenty debutants
Speaker 1: Malawi beat ten time champion Nigeria three to two Tuesday
Speaker 1: night in Morocco on the strength of three goals from
Speaker 1: a family we know all too well here in the States.
Speaker 1: The Shawingas Kansas City current striker and two time NWSL
Speaker 1: MVP ten Wheweinga opened the scoring for Malawi in the
Speaker 1: seventy third minute, and six minutes later, sister Tabitha, who
Speaker 1: plays professionally for leone, found the back of the net
Speaker 1: as well. Then temw was sealed the deal with her
Speaker 1: second goal of the night. Meantime, another NWSL star, Barbara Banda,
Speaker 1: scored an outstanding four goals for Zambia, who beat Egypt
Speaker 1: six nil in their tournament opener on Tuesday. The Orlando
Speaker 1: Pride Strikers that after the game, there's no time to relax.
Speaker 1: The team's already focused on the next game champion mentality. Meantime,
Speaker 1: as the games get underway, players continue to criticize the
Speaker 1: lack of television coverage and fanfare for the event, which
Speaker 1: was originally scheduled for March before being rescheduled less than
Speaker 1: two weeks before its first match. You can read about
Speaker 1: the fallout from last minute TV deals to low attendance
Speaker 1: and lack of player preparedness in stories from ESPN and
Speaker 1: sport Cow that will link to win the show notes.
Speaker 1: The tournament continues for the next few weeks, ending on
Speaker 1: August sixteenth. One more piece of Waftcon news, some breaking
Speaker 1: footy and gay shit news. In fact. On Monday, South
Speaker 1: Africa's Robin Mudali Salgado and Gabriella Mudali Selgado made tournament
Speaker 1: history by becoming the first married couple to play together
Speaker 1: in the same Waftcon match. South Africa lost the match
Speaker 1: to Tanzania two to one, but love always wins. And
Speaker 1: if you just heard me say Tanzania and you're like,
Speaker 1: it's Tanzania, Well, when I was in Tanzania, they said
Speaker 1: it was Tanzania, but we say Tanzania in the States.
Speaker 1: So pick your fighter either way. Footy and gaishit expanding
Speaker 1: to new continents and tournaments, y'all. We love to see
Speaker 1: it to the WNBA. The Indiana Fever bested the Seattle
Speaker 1: Storm one oh five ninety five Tuesday Night, behind thirty
Speaker 1: two points from Caitlin Clark and twenty eight from Kelsey Mitchell.
Speaker 1: Mitchell has scored at least twenty points in a franchise
Speaker 1: record twelve straight games. That's tied for the third longest
Speaker 1: streak in w history. The Storms Statisha hide him and
Speaker 1: also scored a career had thirty three points in the loss,
Speaker 1: presumably having gotten her first good night of rest. On
Speaker 1: Monday after that studbud seventy two hour live stream, Aliah
Speaker 1: Boston took a hard fall in that game. She left
Speaker 1: in the second quarter and didn't return. In a press
Speaker 1: conference after the win, head coach Stephanie White seemed to
Speaker 1: suggest that Boston didn't return to the court out of caution.
Speaker 1: Take a listen.
Speaker 2: No update other than you know, it wasn't really worth
Speaker 2: the risk for us in the second half.
Speaker 1: Just want to be very conservative and make sure that
Speaker 1: she's good to go. We'll keep you updated on boston
Speaker 1: status when we get more news. One more note about
Speaker 1: that Fever game. Before tip off in Seattle, there were
Speaker 1: reports of a crowd of a few dozen gathered outside
Speaker 1: Climate Pledgerina to both support Sophie Cunningham and promote two
Speaker 1: initiatives that would bar transgender students from participating in girls
Speaker 1: athletics at schools throughout the state. This follows Cunningham's comments
Speaker 1: in an ESPN profile last week in which she voiced
Speaker 1: support for excluding trans girls and women from girls and
Speaker 1: women's sports. According to the AP, media members asked to
Speaker 1: speak to Cunningham postgame, but she was not made available.
Speaker 1: When head coach White was asked about the rally and
Speaker 1: Cunningham's recent comments, a Fever public relations rep stepped in
Speaker 1: to read a statement, take a listen.
Speaker 2: So neither our organization nor SOPHY had any knowledge of
Speaker 2: this demonstration and no contact with its organizers. Ar On
Speaker 2: Nicole is a team whether at Homer ways to win
Speaker 2: basketball games and make Fever fancial life and reunited on
Speaker 2: that mission to have more basketball questions.
Speaker 1: As for comment from the Seattle Storm, nothing from team PR,
Speaker 1: but Storm center Stephanie Dolson made her stance known showing
Speaker 1: up to the game in a tank top, reading trans
Speaker 1: rights are human rights. More basketball. The Portland Fire, who
Speaker 1: fell to the Las Vegas Aces ninety eight eighty three
Speaker 1: Tuesday night, are adjusting to life without guard Sarah Ashley Barker.
Speaker 1: She tore her acl in a loss to the Dallas
Speaker 1: Wings just before the All Star break. The sometimes starter
Speaker 1: was averaging career highs in points, rebounds, and assists. Per game,
Speaker 1: and head coach Alex Sarrama called Barker quote the heart
Speaker 1: and soul of this team end quote. Barker was in
Speaker 1: good spirits Tuesday night. She was in street clothes taking
Speaker 1: pics with Tom Brady at the game. That game also
Speaker 1: featured a fun alt cast with podcast host Trista Crik
Speaker 1: and musician, actress and Portlandia legend Carrie Brownstein. There were
Speaker 1: five WNBA games Tuesday night, and you might have been
Speaker 1: surprised to see teams across the league already back in
Speaker 1: action after the All Star break, which wasn't much of
Speaker 1: a break at all, but rather a slew of media obligations, parties, travel,
Speaker 1: and of course, the game itself. Players including Caitlin Clark,
Speaker 1: neko Ogumaky, and Brienna Stewart voiced their concerns about the
Speaker 1: quick turnaround, and WNBPA executive director Terry Carmikle Jackson told
Speaker 1: Front Office Sports that the All Star weekend scheduling issue
Speaker 1: was raised in the last two CBA negotiation cycles, but
Speaker 1: that the league wasn't receptive to any change in the
Speaker 1: MNBA players have been given more than a week between
Speaker 1: regular season games around the All Stars since the twenty
Speaker 1: fourteen to fifteen season. This is just another issue the
Speaker 1: w will have to address as expansion adds more games
Speaker 1: and makes for longer seasons. One more w note, Mattel
Speaker 1: has released a new signature bar Arbi doll, honoring Atlanta
Speaker 1: Dreamstar Angel Reese, dropping the collectible during All Star Weekend.
Speaker 1: The doll wears a bright pink basketball uniform with Reese's
Speaker 1: jersey number five, plus her signature headband and legs leave
Speaker 1: and her rebox shoe in Barbie pink. The doll is
Speaker 1: available now and you can buy the Barbie colorway of
Speaker 1: the shoe on August third. Finally to the AUSL, where
Speaker 1: end of season awards have been announced. The champion Utah
Speaker 1: Talents saw Bree Ellis win Comeback Player of the Year
Speaker 1: and Montana Fouts win Pitcher of the Year. Players from
Speaker 1: the runners up, the Chicago Bandits, also picked up a
Speaker 1: few awards, with Sammy Williams taking home Hitter of the
Speaker 1: Year and Odyssey Alexander Bennett winning the AUSL Impact Award
Speaker 1: and honor voted on by the league's players. Lastly, a
Speaker 1: Rookie of the Year went to Reese Atwood of the
Speaker 1: Carolina Blaze, who was the number seven overall selection in
Speaker 1: the twenty twenty six college draft. As we wrap up
Speaker 1: the season, a quick shout out to the AUSL on
Speaker 1: an incredibly successful sophomore season. It's on average of one
Speaker 1: hundred ninety eight thousand viewers up to the championship series.
Speaker 1: That's up one hundred eighty three percent versus last year,
Speaker 1: and that's before the first ever broadcast television game last
Speaker 1: Saturday on ABC. Lots more AUSL talk with Charlie's Pelasios
Speaker 1: in just a minute, but first we got to take
Speaker 1: a break. Stick here joining us now fresh off helping
Speaker 1: the Utah Talents to their second straight AUSL championship. She's
Speaker 1: a catcher in her third season with AU Softball and
Speaker 1: second season of the AUSL, and that's not her only
Speaker 1: title this year. She also led Sultanas Femenil to the
Speaker 1: twenty twenty six Mexican Softball League title at Chulavista, California native,
Speaker 1: she started her college softball career at Arizona and finished
Speaker 1: at UCLA. A member of the US national team pool,
Speaker 1: she works with young athletes to help them improve their
Speaker 1: fundamentals and their mentals too, with camps and online training sessions.
Speaker 1: It's Charlie's pelasios. Hi, Charlie's Hi.
Speaker 3: Thank you so much for having me on. I'm so
Speaker 3: excited to be here.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so excited to have you on. Congrats twenty twenty
Speaker 1: six AUSL Championship Series winner. And it was a rematch
Speaker 1: of last year, which means for a second straight year,
Speaker 1: you have defeated my Chicago Bandits. So I'm happy for
Speaker 1: you and I'm angry with you. It did require an
Speaker 1: eleven inning play in game from Chicago over the Portland Cascade,
Speaker 1: So were you secretly hoping to face one team or
Speaker 1: the other?
Speaker 3: You know what. We were watching the game and just
Speaker 3: both teams are so elite, Like, I mean, this league
Speaker 3: has just elevated ever since we added two new teams
Speaker 3: and expanded. I feel like it's just brought in way
Speaker 3: more athletes, like just so much more competition. Like we
Speaker 3: had an expansion draft, so kind of like the talent
Speaker 3: got distributed a bit. So we were coming into this
Speaker 3: year kind of knowing that it's going to be a
Speaker 3: different look. There's gonna be different girls on our team,
Speaker 3: and we're gonna really just have to, you know, find
Speaker 3: a different identity. But keep the same culture, if that
Speaker 3: made sense. So yeah, I feel like those two teams,
Speaker 3: Cascade being a brand new team, they're fairly young other
Speaker 3: than like veterans like Tory Vidalas and Cis Bates that
Speaker 3: I mean, they were just not afraid to swing it.
Speaker 3: I feel like they didn't look at our pitching staff
Speaker 3: as if it was like a I call them the
Speaker 3: stallions because they're all like over six feet tall and
Speaker 3: they're just like there are horses, So I call them
Speaker 3: the stallions.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I feel like.
Speaker 3: They just come out and swing. So to me as
Speaker 3: a pitch caller and as a catcher, I was like, ooh,
Speaker 3: the cas kid kind of.
Speaker 1: Uh huh, Well Megan Grant doesn't seem to be afraid
Speaker 1: of anything.
Speaker 3: Anything at all. Yeah, So I like they give me
Speaker 3: a little bit of like, Okay, I have to sit back,
Speaker 3: I really have to think. But the Bandits, I feel
Speaker 3: like we've created like a rivalry just because of the
Speaker 3: past year and just always playing them. I feel like
Speaker 3: the games are always good. Actually, if we go back
Speaker 3: to the inaugural season, they played us and they run
Speaker 3: rolled us our first game. Wow, first two games, I believe,
Speaker 3: so they were like dominant over US for a really
Speaker 3: long time. But I just feel like it's always fun
Speaker 3: to see them in there, and I love playing them.
Speaker 3: I feel like it's good softball to watch and it's
Speaker 3: also fun softball to play.
Speaker 1: So yeah, great Stallion pitching against the best offense in
Speaker 1: the league is always a good matchup. By the way,
Speaker 1: for those who don't know, run ruled is in AUSL
Speaker 1: It's what we used to call slaughter rule, and then
Speaker 1: we started calling mercy rule and now we call it
Speaker 1: run rule, where basically the game ends a little bit
Speaker 1: early if one team is ahead by a certain inning. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean, it feels like the Bandits had an up
Speaker 1: and down season. They struggled for a while, then they
Speaker 1: hit their groove and they were basically unstoppable as far
Speaker 1: as hitting goes. So what was the scouting report for
Speaker 1: them ahead of the championship series? Having faced them a
Speaker 1: couple times in the regular season.
Speaker 3: It's kind of a strange time in our league because
Speaker 3: there's certain there's other leagues that are going on. You
Speaker 3: brought up the league a Mahikana that I played in,
Speaker 3: so that's kind of a little bit earlier in the year.
Speaker 3: But the Japanese League is right before our season, so
Speaker 3: a lot of players are still playing in that and
Speaker 3: come in a little later. So I feel like, like
Speaker 3: you said, they kind of had to get their groove,
Speaker 3: they still had to get their pitching, Like Lexi and
Speaker 3: Kat and Skyler was coming in, so they just had
Speaker 3: some pieces missing, and I feel like they were waiting
Speaker 3: for them to show up. And what we saw were
Speaker 3: just obviously offensive numbers and categories that like they were
Speaker 3: leading the league in. So that was something that always
Speaker 3: kind of peaked our radar. But I feel like it
Speaker 3: got the stallions. We're talking about our pitchers ready for
Speaker 3: facing them and like wanting to go against them. I
Speaker 3: feel like it almost like made them just have that
Speaker 3: extra little ooph against the Bandits, just knowing that they
Speaker 3: have such strong hitters.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well let's talk about the two games. So Saturday's game,
Speaker 1: just like last year, pitcher Georgina Kork put on a
Speaker 1: show absolutely quieting those bats from the Bandits, complete game,
Speaker 1: one run on four hits, bunch of k's. What stands
Speaker 1: out to from that game.
Speaker 3: Just watching Georgina pitch, Like the one word that I
Speaker 3: can say is like poise. She has so much poise
Speaker 3: and she's very relaxed chill. I saw her that game
Speaker 3: and she was like had a little grit and a
Speaker 3: little edge to her. I was like, Oh, she wants
Speaker 3: this game. And in softball, it's a series of best
Speaker 3: two out of three, so getting the first one, like
Speaker 3: you you want to put that one in your pot,
Speaker 3: like that sets the tone for the series. So we
Speaker 3: knew as an offense we had to come out sharp
Speaker 3: against Lexi because they give us our probable starters. So
Speaker 3: we knew that we were going to face Lexi, and
Speaker 3: I think George just wanted to put up something that
Speaker 3: the offense could work with, Like she didn't want to
Speaker 3: have any runs put up against her. I think she
Speaker 3: was like coming out just with a lot of conviction
Speaker 3: on her pitches and she knew what she wanted to throw.
Speaker 3: That's something that makes a catcher's life super easy, is
Speaker 3: like she is convicted and knows exactly what she wants,
Speaker 3: and it makes the pitches better when you're convicted. So
Speaker 3: I feel like that's just kind of what I saw.
Speaker 3: I was super pumped for her to get that start
Speaker 3: because I knew that we're going to have a really
Speaker 3: good chance to go up against Lexi, and it was
Speaker 3: going to give the offense the time that we needed
Speaker 3: to like pick up that puzzle. You know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I want to ask about that because you know,
Speaker 1: when you're working with Georgiana in particular, how often are
Speaker 1: you on the same page? How often is she very
Speaker 1: convicted and you disagree with how to approach a batter?
Speaker 3: Yeah, so approaching different batters, I feel like it's like
Speaker 3: it's tough to just put it in one little category.
Speaker 3: But I like to pitch call the way that I
Speaker 3: wouldn't want to be called against hitting wise, Like that's
Speaker 3: kind of the perspective I take on it. And I
Speaker 3: also know these pitchers very very well. I've always taken
Speaker 3: the time to like get to know my battery. I
Speaker 3: always want to make sure that I know what they're
Speaker 3: comfortable with. I want to like be able to know
Speaker 3: how they're going to react or know what they want
Speaker 3: before they even know it. So I tell them I'm like, hey,
Speaker 3: during this like preseason time, I'm going to be hanging
Speaker 3: out with you, taking you to coffee, doing all this stuff.
Speaker 3: Like they're my work wives, So I have to really
Speaker 3: get to know them, and I have to know them
Speaker 3: like the back of their hands, So I feel like
Speaker 3: that helps me a lot. Yeah, just being like hive mind.
Speaker 3: I like to call it, like we have the same
Speaker 3: exact brain and it's just with two people.
Speaker 1: Catchers are like point guards in that way. They're coaches
Speaker 1: on the field, and they do a lot of work
Speaker 1: outside of just playing the game. It's so much of
Speaker 1: it is the mental side of things. And you know,
Speaker 1: we've asked this question to soccer goalies and hockey goalies,
Speaker 1: and I feel like catchers are the closest equivalent in softball,
Speaker 1: those players often are a little bit different. They have
Speaker 1: to have nerves of steel to be in their position.
Speaker 1: They have to be kind of okay with being a
Speaker 1: little bit on the outside and not quite the same
Speaker 1: as everyone else. Catchers, do you think they're a little
Speaker 1: bit different than everybody else?
Speaker 3: I say, we're a little crazy. You have to be
Speaker 3: a little bit crazy to be back there and just
Speaker 3: put your body on theline. Also like it, Like you said,
Speaker 3: we are point guards, but I feel like at the
Speaker 3: same time, we're like a player coach in a sense,
Speaker 3: like you are an extension of the staff and you
Speaker 3: have to know how your team works, the dynamic of
Speaker 3: it you see everything, so you're calling the plays, you're
Speaker 3: the quarterback. Like, I feel like that's just something that
Speaker 3: I take a lot of pride in. I know that
Speaker 3: catchers it's like a selfless, thinkless job. Yeah, but I
Speaker 3: love it because I know that my best friends that
Speaker 3: I get to know so well are the pitchers, and
Speaker 3: they're the ones that get to shine. So I've always
Speaker 3: loved that. Part of my position is that it's a
Speaker 3: very servant leadership type of role, and I have gotten
Speaker 3: so used to catching. I always say this story about
Speaker 3: putting on my sister's shins, her like hand me down shins,
Speaker 3: and I haven't taken them off since I've always loved it.
Speaker 3: I never pitched, I never played any other position. I
Speaker 3: just loved catching. So I feel like me and my
Speaker 3: family were meant for it. So yeah, I giggle at
Speaker 3: the people that think that they would want to catch.
Speaker 1: Oh hell no. Also, you have to be willing to
Speaker 1: completely trash your knees, and you have to be willing
Speaker 1: to face those seventy mile an hour pitches from like
Speaker 1: a foot away, like the mound is so close, and
Speaker 1: your reaction time and the bat swinging in your face.
Speaker 1: I mean there's so much going on. There's so much
Speaker 1: pressure to know exactly where to go at every turn
Speaker 1: if you're trying to like throw someone out where the
Speaker 1: play is like all that stuff, So you really have
Speaker 1: to be smart in the game. Did you ever have
Speaker 1: to talk yourself into having the confidence to play that
Speaker 1: role or was it always kind of natural, like this
Speaker 1: is where I should be.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that there's always moments like we talk about,
Speaker 3: like imposture syndrome and like just those mental health aspects.
Speaker 3: I found myself in calling doubting a little bit of
Speaker 3: my skill behind the play. I always felt super confident hitting.
Speaker 3: I love hitting like that, if I could play seven
Speaker 3: innings of offense, I'd do it. I love it.
Speaker 1: She wants the DH rule, Yes, give me DH.
Speaker 3: But I actually started really falling in love with catching.
Speaker 3: It was like a subtle art, Like I love when
Speaker 3: people don't even notice I'm back there because I know
Speaker 3: I'm doing my job. Like it's so quiet, so subtle,
Speaker 3: so like silent assassin type stuff, you know. So I
Speaker 3: fell in love with it. And it's like my sister.
Speaker 3: She she's five years older than me, so I always
Speaker 3: got to watch her when I was in high school.
Speaker 3: I got to watch her in college, and I fell
Speaker 3: in love with how she caught and I wanted to
Speaker 3: replicate it. So that was kind of my thought process
Speaker 3: on everything. I was like always trying to do what
Speaker 3: Sechelle did or asking her like hey, like how do
Speaker 3: you call a game? So then when I got to college,
Speaker 3: obviously a freshman catcher, don't know any of the pitchers,
Speaker 3: don't know any of my teammates. I have to lead
Speaker 3: a team, and it was a very highly decorated team.
Speaker 3: It was u of a coach Andrea. Is there so
Speaker 3: a lot of pressure situations that you're put in. And
Speaker 3: I remember Coach Andrea telling me like you're built for it,
Speaker 3: like don't be afraid to be yourself vocalized. If you're wrong,
Speaker 3: you'll learn from it. And I remember that season making calls.
Speaker 3: Maybe they were wrong, but I learned from it. And
Speaker 3: I still remember those plays like they established how I
Speaker 3: know how to call games today. So I feel like
Speaker 3: that's something that has really changed for me, just my
Speaker 3: thought process going through college and having to have those
Speaker 3: airs and those missed calls now have led me to
Speaker 3: make good calls in the games now.
Speaker 1: Well, if I remember correctly, you didn't have a single
Speaker 1: actual error your senior season at UCLA's, so that's pretty good.
Speaker 1: Saturday was also a special moment for the league because
Speaker 1: that game was on ABC. It was the first ever
Speaker 1: pro softball game to be televised on broadcast television. How
Speaker 1: special to be a part of that, to be a
Speaker 1: part of history forever. There's only one first.
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's only one first. And like what I'll say
Speaker 3: about softball is there's a lot of players that have
Speaker 3: given back to the game to let that moment happen.
Speaker 3: So like specifically my GM Lisa Fernandez, like she has
Speaker 3: given her life to this sport and she never got
Speaker 3: to play a professional game on ABC. So when I
Speaker 3: walked into I'm actually getting chills right now talking about it.
Speaker 3: It's like I know that there's so many greats that
Speaker 3: have come before me. Even my sister, she has never
Speaker 3: gotten her games broadcasted on national television. So now being
Speaker 3: able to just kind of get that type of audience
Speaker 3: to get bought into softball, I feel like we're trending
Speaker 3: in the right direction. Like we were just talking about
Speaker 3: how you were at the WNBA, and I see what
Speaker 3: they're doing and I can only hope that I can
Speaker 3: be a part of pushing softball forward in that way,
Speaker 3: and knowing that we got that ABC nod and we
Speaker 3: have so many people around the world, not just in
Speaker 3: College station where we were playing, can watch us. And
Speaker 3: even my family they weren't able to make it out,
Speaker 3: but they were all able to watch, and it's just
Speaker 3: such a cool moment for softball, Like, I'm so grateful
Speaker 3: that I'm living in this era of the aus Cel.
Speaker 3: It's just such a blessing.
Speaker 1: Well, and not just the ABC bump, but they also
Speaker 1: lent Toy story characters to the broadcast. So Woody and
Speaker 1: Jesse were part of this pregame parade with some youth
Speaker 1: softball players, and then they were part of the ceremonial
Speaker 1: first pitch. This is a glow up that we usually
Speaker 1: see for like NFL games, So the fact that Disney
Speaker 1: paired that with the aus CEL is super special. I'm
Speaker 1: wondering how it actually felt or looked in person. Were
Speaker 1: you able to see like is there a stand in
Speaker 1: in like a green screen suit? Is it just a
Speaker 1: blank space? And then later they put the characters in
Speaker 1: how does that work?
Speaker 3: No, they were actually they're in costume.
Speaker 1: Oh, like mascot types.
Speaker 3: Yeah, mascot type. And they had like Disney workers, like
Speaker 3: they had their like little badges that say their name.
Speaker 3: I was like, they flew all the way over here
Speaker 3: from Disneyland, Like what's going on. I'm a huge Disney
Speaker 3: buff too. My parents, bless their souls. We would always
Speaker 3: go to Disney on like between the payments for softball
Speaker 3: and Disneyland, like they were making sure it all happened,
Speaker 3: Like God bless them. But I was like so excited.
Speaker 3: I was like, oh, look at Woodie.
Speaker 1: He's like running around and.
Speaker 3: It was just so cute. But yeah, they brought like
Speaker 3: the little toys out and like made it like a
Speaker 3: little backdrop so that they could start the game and
Speaker 3: show it on the video board.
Speaker 1: Cool.
Speaker 3: And then they were like walking around doing the parade
Speaker 3: and all that stuff.
Speaker 1: Before I get to the celebrations, I guess we should
Speaker 1: address that. There was another game, another great pitching performance,
Speaker 1: Montana Fouts cooking Jade Len Alchin raking. You win your
Speaker 1: second straight title, starting a bit of a dynasty here.
Speaker 1: You need more to be a dynasty, but there's only
Speaker 1: been two and you've won both, so again being the first,
Speaker 1: there's still only going to be one first ever and
Speaker 1: that's you and your teammates. And you're still the only
Speaker 1: champions of this league because you've won both years. So
Speaker 1: what were the celebrations like and what's the conversation like
Speaker 1: around setting the tone for this league?
Speaker 3: Our commissioner Kim After our first championship, we had known
Speaker 3: that the expansion draft was going to happen next year,
Speaker 3: so we kind of had that looming in our brain
Speaker 3: and all of us were saying, don't separate our team.
Speaker 3: Don't separate our team, like, we want to keep our team,
Speaker 3: our team chemistry in year one, I think because no
Speaker 3: one knew what was happening, it was so organic, like
Speaker 3: there was no blueprint of how it should have looked,
Speaker 3: so it was all just us bringing our complete selves
Speaker 3: to the table and like trying to make something out
Speaker 3: of it, you know. So that was that was kind
Speaker 3: of how we looked at it. And then year two
Speaker 3: came and it was like missing our teammates from before
Speaker 3: now having to reintroduce new girls, the rookies that we
Speaker 3: brought in, Like it was just having to create cohesion
Speaker 3: all over again and not trying to mimic last year,
Speaker 3: but also trying to keep the same culture. So that
Speaker 3: was like a weird kind of thought. But so when
Speaker 3: we had talked to Kim, we were like, don't separate us,
Speaker 3: and she's like, let's see if coach Lisa can do
Speaker 3: it again. And when I heard that, I was like,
Speaker 3: coach Lisa is the only person that could do it again.
Speaker 3: I'm telling you that, Like Lisa is made for that,
Speaker 3: Like she's going to find the pieces that we need.
Speaker 3: She knows the importance of pitching in the circle, so
Speaker 3: she kept our stallions together key one. Then we brought
Speaker 3: Dallas McGee in and that is like she played with
Speaker 3: my sister, so it was a very full circle moment
Speaker 3: to have her and then Taylor Tinsley, who was my
Speaker 3: battery mate at UCLA. Like I just felt so much
Speaker 3: love for my pitchers, Like I was like, this is
Speaker 3: the staff to do it. So just really happy about
Speaker 3: that aspect, and yeah, just being the first ever at
Speaker 3: they said something like a stat that the Talents have
Speaker 3: been the only team to ever win a game in
Speaker 3: the Championship Series because we won two sweeps, two sweeps exactly,
Speaker 3: and I was like, that is an insane stat. I
Speaker 3: love that we've won one hundred percent of the games
Speaker 3: in the.
Speaker 1: Champions That's awesome.
Speaker 3: That's a cool stat.
Speaker 1: I love that you mentioned the expansion, so you've got
Speaker 1: the new teams. Also, unlike last year, no longer barnstorming format.
Speaker 1: This is actual heading to the cities and playing in
Speaker 1: the places where the teams are. How different did this
Speaker 1: season feel from last year in terms of like structure.
Speaker 3: I love the structure this year. I feel like it
Speaker 3: felt so much more professional in a sense to have
Speaker 3: a home base. And I just have to say, these
Speaker 3: fans showed out to so many of these places, Like
Speaker 3: I have to speak for Utah. They loved us there.
Speaker 3: They like greeted us with open arms. It was a
Speaker 3: Wednesday and there was people in the stands, always cheering,
Speaker 3: always there. We did this like preseason event, and they
Speaker 3: had loved coming to meet us, And I loved meeting
Speaker 3: them because I felt like every time I had seen
Speaker 3: them in the autograph line, I was like getting to
Speaker 3: know them more and I was like, oh.
Speaker 1: My gosh, you guys came.
Speaker 3: You said you were going to come, and I was like,
Speaker 3: how are your games? To some of the girls, I
Speaker 3: remember their schedule, it was like it was super organic,
Speaker 3: and I think that's something that people love about women
Speaker 3: and female athletes, is that we have more connection with
Speaker 3: our fan base than the men do. I feel like
Speaker 3: they have a lot more accessibility to us in a
Speaker 3: sense that it's hard to get with male professional athletes,
Speaker 3: and I feel like they just get to know us better.
Speaker 3: It becomes more of a relationship rather than like they
Speaker 3: see us from afar. So I feel like that's something
Speaker 3: that I really loved. I loved getting to know Portland
Speaker 3: was one of my favorite places that I got to
Speaker 3: travel to because they love female sports. I'll tell you,
Speaker 3: like maybe even the girls will say, the Cascade girls,
Speaker 3: They're like, sure, least I would hit a horrible ground
Speaker 3: ball and they were like yes, they like and they
Speaker 3: were just so you did your best, You did your best,
Speaker 3: so positive. They loved them, Like it was such a
Speaker 3: cool experience to be able to play there and just
Speaker 3: play and have all these like crowds just accept us.
Speaker 3: I feel like it's such a cool experience, and yeah,
Speaker 3: it felt super professional this year.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I want to ask about the fans, because did
Speaker 1: it feel like there was a big difference in awareness, viewership,
Speaker 1: fan response in the second season. I mean obviously you're
Speaker 1: not tracking all those numbers, but just from the perspective
Speaker 1: of a player, did you notice a jump in like, Oh,
Speaker 1: it's second year of AUSL and way more people know
Speaker 1: about it.
Speaker 3: Yes, I definitely felt that. I feel like last year
Speaker 3: it was kind of like a new thing, so a
Speaker 3: lot of people were talking about aus L. Unless you
Speaker 3: were in the bubble of it, you didn't really know
Speaker 3: what was going on. We had a good amount of
Speaker 3: games broadcasted on ESPN, so my friends from back home,
Speaker 3: people that had known us, would watch it and then
Speaker 3: I'd get random people being like, oh, I recognize you
Speaker 3: from playing on this whatever, and everyone was kind of
Speaker 3: just kind of talking about that. And I feel like
Speaker 3: this year it was like everyone was waiting for it.
Speaker 3: Like before I would play, They're like, tell me what
Speaker 3: your schedule is, I want to come see where are
Speaker 3: they going to be passed? Like it was just a
Speaker 3: lot more anticipation because they had seen it from year one,
Speaker 3: very intentional exactly, and we got that deal with ESPN
Speaker 3: that made the world of difference. The entirety of our season.
Speaker 3: There was a softball game on every single day, so yeah,
Speaker 3: it was like everyone could get a piece of like, oh, well,
Speaker 3: the bandits atret playing today, let me watch the Blaze
Speaker 3: And it's like even us on our off days, we
Speaker 3: would be watching the other teams play.
Speaker 1: That's so cool, so fun.
Speaker 3: I know.
Speaker 1: I remember landing back in the country from somewhere either
Speaker 1: Italy or France where I was this summer, and I
Speaker 1: was walking through the airport and I was like, oh,
Speaker 1: I'm back in the States because there's softball on ESPN
Speaker 1: and all the TVs in the airport, and like, it's
Speaker 1: very cool that that's the case now. Yeah, between ESPN
Speaker 1: and then the investment in partnership with MLB, it's just
Speaker 1: really professionalized the league in a very cool way. I
Speaker 1: have to ask you, let's say you have a magic
Speaker 1: wand and you can make any changes for next season.
Speaker 1: What's at the top of your list our uniforms? Oh? Okay,
Speaker 1: tell me.
Speaker 3: I am such a creative buff. I want to do something.
Speaker 3: I watch a lot of MLB. Obviously they have the
Speaker 3: City Connects. I want to create a city connect line.
Speaker 3: I want them to give me like the editor of
Speaker 3: whatever Adidas has to create it, and I want to
Speaker 3: make a color rush Like I feel like that would
Speaker 3: just right doesn't that like it just perks up your
Speaker 3: ears like color Rush, and I'm thinking, like, obviously Blaze
Speaker 3: has their pink, but making like a lighter kind of pink,
Speaker 3: just like kind of playing into the colors that like
Speaker 3: me as a little kid would have wanted to wear,
Speaker 3: but make it look professional. I feel like Coo would
Speaker 3: just make the fans love it, be engaged their storytelling
Speaker 3: behind it. I feel like we could do a lot
Speaker 3: of stuff with that. Personally for the talents, I would
Speaker 3: do like a super cute sage green and make it
Speaker 3: like a monochromatic look, yeah, with some emerald like pinstripes something.
Speaker 1: Okay, Okay, yeah, because City connect is really cool, they
Speaker 1: come up with great stories connected to the city and
Speaker 1: then Color Russian the NFL is usually that one, like
Speaker 1: monochromatic the whole thing, and both of them are really
Speaker 1: cool ways to like engage the fans with different merch
Speaker 1: in the storytelling. So I love that. I would like
Speaker 1: to see I would like to see you do that
Speaker 1: while people will be able to see you keep playing
Speaker 1: even though technically the AUSL season, championship season is done.
Speaker 1: You're playing in the All Star Cup in August, so
Speaker 1: fans can watch you and the rest of their AUSL faves.
Speaker 1: So good luck with that, and thanks so much for
Speaker 1: joining us and celebrating a little Yeah.
Speaker 3: Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. And this
Speaker 3: is just so much fun, so thank you.
Speaker 1: Thanks again to Charlie for hanging out with us. And
Speaker 1: don't forget. You can now watch full length good game
Speaker 1: interviews on the Iheartwomen's Sports YouTube channel, so head on
Speaker 1: over and subscribe. We have to take another break when
Speaker 1: we return. We've got Canadians, Irishmen, and Swedes. We're all
Speaker 1: for one, We're one for all, We're all Americans. Stick around.
Speaker 1: Welcome back, slaces. We love that you're listening, but we
Speaker 1: want you to get in the game every day too.
Speaker 1: So here's our good game play of the day. We
Speaker 1: are just days away from opening day of the Women's
Speaker 1: Professional Baseball League, a moment seventy two years in the making,
Speaker 1: the first real women's pro baseball league since the All
Speaker 1: American Girls, the league that was of course memorialized in
Speaker 1: a league of their own. I will be there on
Speaker 1: Saturday in Springfield, Illinois, to host a live good game
Speaker 1: and celebrate all the opening day festivities. So please come
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Speaker 1: and review slaces. It's easy watch losing a favorite musician
Speaker 1: too young zero out of zero New Songs review. Wednesday morning,
Speaker 1: I woke up to see the news that the fantastically talented,
Speaker 1: exceedingly kind Irish musician, poet, busker and teller of truths
Speaker 1: Glenn Hanser died in a motorcycle crash, lost at the
Speaker 1: age of fifty six. He was made famous as the
Speaker 1: star of the movie Once, but he was also beloved
Speaker 1: for his music with the band The Frames, as one
Speaker 1: half of the group's Swell Season and as a solo artist.
Speaker 1: I've seen him live so many times, and I always
Speaker 1: left feeling like I'd witness someone doing the very thing
Speaker 1: they were put on the earth to do, feeling like
Speaker 1: he could uniquely feel and deliver and share the world
Speaker 1: sorrows and joys and mysteries and heartbreaks. When I read
Speaker 1: the news of his passing, I mourned for his family
Speaker 1: and friends, but also for us. I had the same
Speaker 1: feeling I had the day we lost the great poet
Speaker 1: Andrea Gibson. No new art were now limited to the words, songs, performances,
Speaker 1: and video clips that have already been captured. When people
Speaker 1: like Glenn and Andrea, pass, their specific, unique and special
Speaker 1: worldview goes with them. We hear this often when someone
Speaker 1: dies young, but it's worth remembering that nothing is promised
Speaker 1: to us. Got to appreciate every moment and every day
Speaker 1: we get. Now it's your turn, y'all, rate and review,
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, See you tomorrow. Good Game, Charlie's Good
Speaker 1: Game AUSL for a fantastic sophomore season. Few motor Cycles.
Speaker 1: Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports
Speaker 1: production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You
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Speaker 1: our producers are Alex Azzi and Bianca Hillier. Our executive
Speaker 1: producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder.
Speaker 1: Our editors are Emily Rudder, Lucy Jones, Britney Martinez and
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