Skip to main content
Partner logo
Mobile Icon Link Mobile Icon Link Mobile Icon Link
Vawter Selected in Ninth Round of Athletes Unlimited Softball League Draft
Softball  . 

Vawter Selected in Ninth Round of Athletes Unlimited Softball League Draft

NEW YORK – South Carolina softball alumna Alana Vawter was drafted by the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) Wednesday night (Jan. 29) with the 34th overall pick in the ninth round by the Blaze.

The AUSL is a professional women’s softball league featuring four teams playing in a traditional format. The league will begin play this summer.

She becomes the third South Carolina softball player to be professionally drafted, joining Donnie Gobourne who was drafted in 2023 by the OKC Spark of the Women’s Professional Fastpitch league and Samie Garcia in 2013 by the NY/NJ Comets of the former National Pro Fastpitch league.

Vawter currently serves as a graduate assistant for the Gamecock softball team. In her lone season with the Gamecocks, Vawter was named a Third Team All-American as announced by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA). She was the first Gamecock to garner All-American honors since Mackenzie Boesel was also named to the third team in 2021. Vawter was the fifth Carolina pitcher to earn All-American honors and the first since Megan Matthews in 1999.

In 2024, Vawter went 17-13, earning the most wins by a pitcher since 2018. Her 41 appearances are tied for 14th all-time in a season by a Carolina player. She pitched 188 2-3 innings and tied for the team lead with three saves. Vawter struck out 107 batters while walking 49. She threw 12 complete games, three of which were shutouts.

Vawter ended her season among Division I leaders in numerous categories including wins, saves, ERA, shutouts, complete games, hits per seven innings, and walks per seven innings.

Vawter capped her final season by being named to the NFCA All-Region Third Team, the All-SEC Second Team, and the SEC Pitcher of the Week.

The league will feature four teams playing a 24-game season in a traditional format and will be in addition to the existing AU Pro Softball Championship Season, which launched in 2020 and is 30 games over five weeks in July and August. The AUSL season will start in June and will feature four teams (Bandits, Blaze, Talons and Volts). The league will be going on tour to 6-8 cities in its first season and then in 2026 will move to a city-based format. ESPN will broadcast at least 18 games exclusively in 2025 (ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU).

For the latest on South Carolina Softball, visit GamecocksOnline.com or follow the team’s social media accounts on Twitter @GamecockSoftbll, Facebook /GamecockSoftball, and Instagram @GamecockSoftball.