2026 AUSL Championship Softball: Talons Win Title
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Sharlize Palacios played through injury and Jocelyn Erickson gave everything in her first pro year — the 2026 AUSL Championship is a lesson in what catchers are really made of.
The Utah Talons are back-to-back champions.
Montana Fouts threw a complete game on July 26 in College Station, Texas. Jadelyn Allchin hit a two-run home run in the first inning. The Chicago Bandits lost 6-1 in Game 2, and the 2026 AUSL Championship softball series was over in a sweep.
But before the confetti fell, two catchers had already written something worth reading.
The first was Sharlize Palacios, the Talons’ starting catcher, who had been battling injury since mid-June. She missed significant time behind the plate during the championship run. In Game 1, on the biggest stage professional softball has ever built — the first pro softball game ever broadcast on network television, on ABC — Palacios appeared in the lineup. Then she went 2-for-2 with a single that scored the first run of the game.
It was the first multi-hit game in Utah Talons postseason history. She set that record while managing an injury that had kept her off the field for weeks.
The second catcher was Jocelyn Erickson, the Chicago Bandits’ #5 overall AUSL pick and one of the only left-handed-throwing catchers in professional softball. We have followed her all season: the 11-inning play-in win over Portland Cascade, where she scored the go-ahead run. The journey to the championship series, where the Bandits moved her to first base and asked her to give the roster what it needed in that role. She gave it.
The Talons were better. Allchin hit the home run. Fouts did not allow meaningful damage. Erickson’s first professional season ends as a runner-up.
That is not a small thing. She came into this league as a left-handed catcher at a position almost nobody throws left-handed. She finished it in a championship series. She had already survived an 11-inning playoff thriller and scored the run that sent her team there.
What a catcher can learn from this
Sharlize Palacios did something before she ever put on the lineup card. During the portion of the postseason when her body kept her off the field, she called pitches from the dugout. She read hitters, communicated with her pitcher, and helped the Talons win games from a folding chair.
That is not a consolation role. That is a catcher doing her actual job.
The physical part of catching is real: the pop time, the block in the dirt, the frame on the corner. But the reason a smart catcher is irreplaceable is the mental part. She knows what each hitter is looking for. She knows what her pitcher throws when the game gets tense. She knows how to slow things down when everything is speeding up.
You can start building that knowledge today. Chart pitches during games you watch. Pick a hitter and ask yourself: what pitch is she sitting on? Then watch what happens. Do it enough times and the game starts to speak to you.
When your team needs you somewhere other than behind the plate — at first base, on the bench sending signals — you will be ready to give them that version of you too. Jocelyn Erickson played where the Bandits needed her. Sharlize Palacios guided where the Talons needed her.
Both catchers gave everything they had. Only one team went home with the trophy. But the work both of them did — that carries over.
Try this at your next practice
- Pitch Charting. During a live game or scrimmage, chart every pitch thrown to one hitter for a full at-bat. Before each pitch, predict what’s coming. Compare your prediction to what the pitcher actually throws. Do this three times per week — your ability to read a pitcher from the batter’s box will sharpen fast.
- Relay Signals Drill. Have your coach call pitches by hand signal while you are NOT behind the plate — set up at first base or in the dugout. Practice transmitting signs to a partner behind the dish. The mental part of your game lives in your hands and your memory, not just your squat.
- Positional Flex Day. Once a week in practice, volunteer to spend 10 minutes at a position other than catcher — first base, third, outfield. Being versatile earns trust and teaches you how the game looks from somewhere else. That view makes you a better catcher.
Sources: Utah Talons claim second straight AUSL championship with 6-1 win over Chicago Bandits (KXXV) · Utah Talons Secure Second Straight AUSL Title in Series Sweep (Just Baseball) · Montana Fouts Wins 2026 AUSL Championship (Alabama Athletics) · Injured Sharlize Palacios Is Still “In the Game” for the Talons (OurSports Central).
