Sunflower Softball League (SSL) is proud to announce its participation in the Alliance Softball Collegiate Summer Series in Oklahoma City, OK at Hall of Fame Stadium. The SSL All-Stars play Team Alliance, a summer exhibition team of college softball athletes. The two teams will play a three-game series that kicks off Monday, July 25th and concludes with a doubleheader on Tuesday, July 26th.
The SSL All-Star team is made up of the best players from the league’s inaugural 2022 season.
· Lainee Brown, Wichita State University
· Sophia Buzard, University of Kansas
· Tess Eubank, Seminole State College
· Rebeca Fajardo, Oklahoma Christian University
· Holly Fletcher, University of South Dakota / Transfer Portal
· Kendall Forbes, Pittsburg State University
· Kaitlyn Gee, University of Kansas
· Hailey Kastl, Oklahoma State University
· Lauren Mills, Wichita State University
· Eve Morris, Johnson County Community College
· Kate Paulsen, Oklahoma Christian University
· Jordyn Pipkin, University of Central Oklahoma
· Lexie Pitcher, Hutchinson Community College
· Ariana Potter, Northwestern Oklahoma State University
· Bailie Runner, Oklahoma State University
· Ellie Smith, Colorado Mesa University / Transfer Portal
· Lexi Williams, Emporia State University
· Celeste Wood, University of Tulsa
This will be the third and final stop for Team Alliance as part of the inaugural Collegiate Summer Series. The Team Alliance roster is stacked with National Champions, All Americans, All Conference Players and National Player of the Year Finalists. Their roster for the OKC Series is highlighted by:
· Alyssa Brito, Grace Lyons, Grace Green & Riley Boone from the reigning National Champion Oklahoma Sooners
· Kelly Maxwell, a top 10 finalist for Player of the Year & Big 12 Co-Pitcher of the Year, out of Oklahoma State
· Sydney McKinney, a top 10 finalist for Player of the Year, out of Wichita State
· Chenise Delce, the SEC Pitcher of the Year and OKC native, out of Arkansas
The Sunflower Softball League launched this summer in Wichita, KS with a vision to provide a home for college softball players looking to play and train during the summer. In our first year, the SSL was made up of four teams with over 45 players from various DI, DII, DIII, NAIA and NJCAA programs.
“We are thrilled to be invited to partner with the Alliance Fastpitch, and the Collegiate Summer Series, in Oklahoma City at Hall of Fame Stadium”, said Casey Walkup, Founder and Commissioner of the SSL. “This series will provide an amazing opportunity for our all-stars to compete against some of the best college softball players in the country at the mecca of USA Softball. It doesn’t get any better than that!”
Game 1 is scheduled for Monday, July 25th at 7:00 pm at Hall of Fame Stadium followed by Game 2 and 3 on Tuesday, July 26th at 4:00 and 6:15 pm. Admission is $7 per day. Prior to Game 1, around 5:00pm, SSL and Team Alliance athletes will also participate in a Home Run Derby competition around 5:00pm.
About the Sunflower Softball League:
The Sunflower Softball League (SSL) is a non-profit 501(c)3 summer collegiate softball league, based in Wichita, KS, made up of four teams with girls from all over the United States. The league was formed in 2022, wanting to provide more softball opportunities for women college student-athletes. The United States has been saturated for many years with summer college baseball, yet there are just a few summer college softball leagues at this time. The SSL founding board has more than 40 years of fastpitch softball experience, more than 40 years of summer collegiate baseball experience and a goal of providing women college softball student-athletes with an opportunity to not only become better softball players, but also become better young women off the field as well. You can follow the SSL on Facebook @SunflowerSoftball, @sunflowersoftballleague on Instagram and @SummerCollegeSB on Twitter. Visit www.sunflowersoftball.com
About Team Alliance:
Team Alliance is an exhibition team created to provide competitive experiences and exposure opportunities for college athletes. We created Team Alliance to showcase the game’s best talent to various audiences and give additional platforms to elevate the brands of our best players.
The Team Alliance concept was originally created in the Summer of 2021 to play Team USA in preparation for the Tokyo Olympics. The Alliance Fastpitch leadership assembled a team of mostly college players to play 8 games against Team USA in Texas. Behind a strong pitching performance from Carrie Eberle and a grand slam by Taylor Ellsworth, Team Alliance handed USA their first loss on US soil since 2008! Team Alliance later played a three-game series against the USSSA Pride and beat the Pride behind a complete game from Georgina Corrick and game winning RBI from Janae Jefferson.
Last winter, ten Team Alliance players were invited to Team USA tryouts and two of those athletes were named to the Team USA National team roster including Janae Jefferson and Montana Fouts. An additional 3 players were invited to participate in USA events this summer including Kelly Maxwell, Kayla Kowalik, and Baylee Klingler. Additionally, three Team Alliance players finished in the top 9 in Athletes Unlimited 2021 Season. Pitcher Carrie Eberle finished 4th overall, Aliyah Andrews finished 8th overall and Sis Bates finished 9th overall. More recently, Klinger and Corrick are two of the top three finalists for 2022 USA Softball College Player of the year.
About the Alliance Fastpitch Collegiate Summer Series:
The Collegiate Summer Series will bring the top college players together in the summer to compete, further develop, and showcase their brands in front of large youth softball events. Teams participating in the Collegiate Summer Series will compete against other college and professional athletes in front of the large crowds attending the youth tournaments! We hope this will increase the visibility of our stars, produce NIL opportunities, provide competitive and developmental opportunities for our college players, and inspire the next generation.
About the Alliance Fastpitch:
The Alliance Fastpitch was created to bring unity to our sport. We are a national organization of fastpitch teams working together to build competitive pathways to Championships and to bring expert resources to our members off the field that they need in their development journey. We believe we can bring more resources to our game, enhance opportunities for players, and grow the game through the simple concept of Competing on the Field and Working Together off the Field. Visit www.thealliancefastpitch.com
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