STARKVILLE — Just 12 players will be selected in the inaugural Athletes Unlimited Softball League draft this Saturday, and two of them will come from Mississippi State.
Star center fielder Sierra Sacco and ace pitcher Raelin Chaffin each were presented with a “golden ticket” at Tuesday night’s Bulldogs baseball game, letting them know they will be drafted to one of the league’s four teams. AUSL commissioner Kim Ng, the former Miami Marlins general manager, was there for the presentation.
MSU and Virginia Tech are the only teams that have received two golden tickets. All but one have been handed out as of Tuesday.
“We’re just so proud of both Sierra and Raelin and what this means for the two of them, for the program, for women’s softball,” Bulldogs head coach Samantha Ricketts said. “We all are trying to do our best to grow the game, and I’m really excited about the AUSL and what it’s going to bring to our sport. Excited to see these two in the inaugural season and get to join (former MSU star) Mia Davidson, and just have a lot of Bulldogs playing in the league this summer.”
Neither Sacco nor Chaffin started her college career in Starkville, but both have had their best seasons in the maroon and white. Sacco played two years at Louisiana Tech, where she was a top-10 finalist for NFCA National Freshman of the Year in 2022. Relatively unheralded out of high school in the New Orleans area, Sacco put up excellent numbers again as a sophomore, then joined MSU in the transfer portal in the summer of 2023.
She had another strong year as a slapper in 2024, getting on base nearly half the time and playing error-free defense in center. But this year, Sacco has transformed herself into a complete five-tool player and one of the best offensive players in all of college softball. She is slashing .471/.565/.797 through 50 games with 10 home runs, 16 doubles and 15 stolen bases with far more walks than strikeouts and a perfect fielding percentage.
On Wednesday, she was named a top-25 finalist for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year.
“It makes me feel like all my work paid off,” Sacco said. “I spent a lot of hours just me, myself and a tee in the cage. It just makes all of that worth it, just knowing I can do anything I put my mindset to.”
Chaffin, also from Louisiana, spent three seasons at LSU and compiled a 23-8 record there, but she was never the Tigers’ ace and topped out at 88 innings pitched as a junior. But after undergoing treatment for thyroid cancer following her transfer to MSU, Chaffin has developed into one of the Southeastern Conference’s best pitchers. She is currently 20-7 with a 2.50 ERA in 154 innings, and on Sunday she became the Bulldogs’ first 20-game winner since 2015.
“It’s always been the goal (to play professionally), but I never thought it was a reachable goal,” Chaffin said. “It’s just kind of surreal to watch this all happen.”
Athletes Unlimited played its first softball season in 2020, but for the last five years it has been a player-driven league with players scoring points individually for statistical categories and team success. Teams were re-drafted each week, and the player with the most individual points at the end of the season was the champion. This will be the first year of the more traditional AUSL, with four permanent teams — the Bandits, Blaze, Talons and Volts.
The league runs from early June to late July, with teams playing all throughout the country in 10 different states. Starting in 2026, the teams will have home bases and will play more typical home and away games.
“I am so excited. I really was hoping we would both get drafted,” Sacco said. “I’m glad she’s going to be with me. I watched college softball growing up, and I’m just so excited to meet everyone, play against them and see if I can compete.”
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