16 Years After a Dream Began, Pro Softball Calls Texas Home
Published on January 23, 2026 under Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL)
Texas Volts News Release
The dream of bringing a professional softball team to Texas was born 16 years ago, but it wasn't written in the stars - it was written on a ball.
The Athletes Unlimited Softball League celebrated the launch of the Texas Volts on Tuesday, who will call Round Rock home. Last summer, the Volts played a four-game series at Dell Diamond, drawing the league's biggest crowds during its inaugural season and cross-country tour.
"Austin-Round Rock is proof of concept that people will pack out a large venue to watch pro softball," AUSL Commissioner Kim Ng said at the press conference. "We no longer have to envision what it could look like. ©We now know what it will look like. The roots and the softball culture are strong here."
Volts General Manager Cat Osterman is a softball (and Texas) legend: she's a four-time All-American as a Longhorn and three-time Olympian. She played professionally in the United States for nearly a decade when resources and infrastructure were limited.
In August of 2010, the Round Rock Express attracted fans from across the state to see a National Pro Fastpitch showdown between Jennie Finch, who played on the former Chicago Bandits, and Osterman, the ace pitcher for the USSSA Pride.
The spectacle was a success and inspired Osterman's desire to have a pro team in her home state. She shared that with Chris Almandarez, now President of the Round Rock Express, who at the time helped organize the event and hosted Finch and Osterman.
"After the last game, our clubhouse manager said, 'Hey, Cat left you something in the locker. You need to come get it," Almandarez recalled. "So I walked back there, and there was this softball that she signed."
The ball read: "Chris, thanks for doing an amazing job for this event! Let's get a team so I can come home!"
Sixteen years later, Osterman and the Volts are home.
"I was blessed with two boys who grew up looking at [Craig] Biggio and [Jeff] Bagwell... but now they're going to have Amanda Lorenz, Mia Scott to look up to," Almandarez said.
The Volts have UT superstar Mia Scott on the roster alongside three other natives, Aliyah Binford,
Danieca Coffey and Alyssa Denham. The team will play a 25-game regular season that begins on June 9, but will debut in front of their home crowd on June 18.
"I'm proud to put a lot of pieces that have been part of my career from youth to college, to coaching all together because I really think we're going to bring you guys a great product," Osterman said.
Savanna Collins is the Senior Reporter for the AUSL. You can follow her on X @savannaecollins.
Athletes Unlimited Softball League Stories from January 23, 2026
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