The Athletes Unlimited Softball League is coming off a sophomore season that saw it soar to new heights.
However, on Sunday, crowning a champion of the summer’s All-Star Cup didn’t come without controversy and a dose of gravity. Lexi Kilfoyl of the Chicago Bandits earned the top spot and it wasn’t all based on her performance in the circle. She won the popular vote.
It was No. 1 versus No. 2 on Sunday night at Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont, Ill. Kilfoyl and Baylee Klingler sat atop the leaderboard and it was Klingler who finished the game with an eight-point lead thanks to a 5-0 win for Team Klingler in the season finale.
The infielder appeared to be en route to an individual championship until it came down to MVP votes cast by players and fans.
Kilfoyl garnered enough votes for MVP 2, which awarded her 40 additional points and pushed her into first place.
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The former Oklahoma State Cowgirl pitcher finished the summer competition with 1,072 points. Klinger had 1,040.
Sam Landry finished in third with 908 points. She had a league-best 4-1 record and a 1.21 ERA.
Kilfoyl’s outing on Sunday was arguably her worst of the All-Star Cup season. She allowed four runs, three earned, on five hits and only recorded one out. Klinger was 0-for-3 with a run scored.
โI was shocked,โ Kilfoyl told reporters. โAt the end of that game, it didnโt even feel like I should have won that, but they trusted me and said, โJust one outing doesnโt define you.’โ
โTo know that they had my back in that moment, that seals a deal for me, and Iโd rather lose with them than lose with anyone else,โ Kilfoyl added.
Kilfoyl, who earned her second career medal after placing second in 2024, has a 3-1 record in the circle with a 1.98 earned run average while appearing in eight games. She also led the league with five Game MVP awards, including three MVP 3 certificates, and ranked second with 160 MVP points.
Klingler solidified herself as a top-three player after Series One and was a captain for the next three series. She went undefeated in two of them and finished with a 5-1 record. She was voted MVP 1 twice, totaling 120 points in the category, which tied for third overall in the league.
With the win, Kilfoyl joins Kayla Kowalik (2025), Amanda Lorenz (2024), Odicci
Alexander-Bennett (2023), Dejah Mulipola (2022), Aleshia Ocasio (2021) and Cat Osterman (2020) as individual champions of the competition, which was previously known as the AU Pro Softball Championship.
โThese are truly the best softball players in the world around me, and knowing that I am No. 1 out of this roster is truly an honor,โ said Kilfoyl. โAs this league continues to grow and move in the right direction, this is all going to be very special moving forward. Knowing that I had my teammates to pick me up even when I wasnโt at my best really means the world to me.โ
About the AUSL All-Star Cup
Forty-five of the leagueโs top players were selected to compete in the 2026 AUSL All-Star Cup, a 12-game competition at Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont to crown an individual champion.
The All-Star Cup utilizes Athletes Unlimitedโs innovative scoring format with
players earning points based on game and inning wins, individual statistics and Game MVP voting and new teams drafted by the top three players on the leaderboard over the course of four weekly series.
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