ROSEMONT, Ill. – Nevada Softball Head Coach Victoria Hayward and Assistant Coach Delanie Wisz will participate in the 2024 Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball Championship Season in Rosemont, Ill.

HOW THE AU PRO SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP WORKS
Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball features 60 of the world's best softball players in a five-week season including a weekly draft. An individual scoring system crowns a single player as the season champion, with the ability to pick up points from individual performance and team performance.

The four athletes at the top of the leaderboard are named captains for the week, selecting their players from the pool of the remaining 56 players. The 14-round draft is held each Monday in a "snake" format.

Once teams are decided for the week, each team will play each other once throughout the week, with the majority of games being played on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Individuals will earn points throughout games based on their performance, earning 10 points per base on a hit or a walk, 10 points for a stolen base or sacrifice, and eight points for a hit-by-pitch. Baserunners lose 10 points when caught stealing. Pitchers collect four points for every out earned and lose 10 points for an earned run allowed.

Additionally, players and fans vote for the game MVP, with the first-place vote-getter earning 60 additional points, with the second-place earning 40 points, and third-place gaining an additional 20 points. Finally, 20 points are available for a defensive MVP if half of the players vote for one.

The final way for players to earn points is through team performance. 10 points are awarded to the players of the team that wins each individual inning. If an inning ends tied, the points roll over to the next inning. The winners of the game earn 50 points towards their individual total.

After the game, all points are added to their season total, and the top four players are named the captains for the following week, repeating the whole process. At the end of the five-week season, a champion is crowned.

WEEK ONE DRAFT
Wisz was drafted in the sixth round by former Oklahoma All-American Sydney Romero. Wisz joins former Oklahoma State pitcher Lexi Kilfoyl and former UCLA and Team USA star Rachel Garcia on Team Romero.

Hayward was selected in the seventh round by former Oregon All-American Gwen Svekis. Hayward will be playing with 2024 AUX Softball Defensive MVP, Jessi Warren, and 2022 World Games gold medalist Megan Faraimo.

WHEN AND WHERE TO WATCH
Week one begins Friday, July 26 at 4 p.m. when Team Svekis and Hayward open the season against Alyssa Denham's team. Wisz and Team Romero will play directly after game one, with a 6:30 p.m. scheduled start. Both games will be televised on ESPN2.

On Saturday, Team Romero will play Team Denham at 12 p.m., before Team Svekis matches up against Odicci Alexander's team at 2:30 p.m. Each game will be available only on ESPN+.
The weekend closes on Sunday when Hayward and Wisz face off at 11 a.m., with Team Romero and Team Svekis being televised on ESPN2.

HAYWARD AND WISZ IN ATHLETES UNLIMITED EVENTS
Hayward is one of 16 players to have taken part in all five seasons of the Pro Championship. In the inaugural season, Hayward finished in third place of the then-57-player field. She finished the season with 1,860 points with .396 batting average and .459 on-base percentage. In 2021, Hayward tallied 1,020 points starting in all 15 games and hitting .354. In 2022, Hayward finished in 20^th place with 1,302 leaderboard points and leading the league in steals. In her most recent campaign, Hayward was one of 12 players to earn at least 300 stat points and start in all games.

In her Championship Season career, Hayward has appeared in 60 games and tallied 70 hits, including 4 home runs. She has a .343 batting average through four seasons. In addition to her four Championship Season appearances, Hayward has played in two of the three editions of AUX, a shorter, three-team, version of the league.

Wisz enters her second Championship Season but has also appeared in the previous two AUX seasons. In her lone Championship Season, Wisz earned 996 points and was named to the All-Defensive Team. She started all 15 games while fashioning a .229 batting average and multiple MVP performances.

Wisz is coming off an outstanding AUX season, in which she finished in third with 1,288 points.