Danielle O’Toole can’t wait to get back in the pitcher’s circle.
She’s less thrilled about facing Katiyana Mauga, her former Arizona Wildcats teammate.
“I’m not really ready to throw to her right now. She kicked my butt in practice in college, so I’m not really looking forward to it,” O’Toole said with a laugh.
Mauga and O’Toole are among a handful of former Wildcats softball players who are part of the new Athletes Unlimited softball league.
Players gathered this week at the Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont, Illinois, for training. The six-week season is slated to start Aug. 29 with a doubleheader. Game 1 will be shown on ESPN2 at 10 a.m., with Game 2 streamed on ESPN3. (All 30 games will be broadcast on either ESPN- or CBS-owned networks.)
While the play may look familiar, it’s Athletes Unlimited’s innovations that O’Toole and others hope will shake up the way modern leagues operate. In Athletes Unlimited, the players own the league, make all the decisions — and share all the profits.
Four captains draft their teams every week, with teams changing weekly. Players earn bonuses through a system that tracks individual and team statistics. Points are added for stolen bases, home runs and other accomplishments — and taken away when athletes are caught stealing or give up runs. Team points are awarded based on how well the team does every inning, and whether it wins.
Each athlete is essentially playing for themselves and not the name on the front of their jerseys. It’s a different mindset, sure, but “I don’t think we really see the name in it as long as we get to play the sport that we love,” Mauga said.
“It’s different, and I love different,” Mauga added. “It just is pretty cool and awesome to see the players being in charge of things.”
The league is 50-plus players deep and has more than a few Arizona connections. Former Wildcats Taylor McQuillin and Mandie Perez have signed up, as has Sabino High School graduate Kelsey Jenkins.
The Athletes Unlimited softball league joins National Pro Fastpitch, which was founded 17 years ago but canceled this season because of the coronavirus pandemic, as two of America’s pro softball leagues.
NPF is run rather traditionally, at least in comparison to Athletes Unlimited. The new league is a chance for women to take control of and change their compensation structure, O’Toole said.
“My biggest thing is I’m just hoping that this turns out to be as lucrative as we want it because I am so sick of being told that I don’t know, (that) I don’t understand economics (because) I’m a woman. I need to go make a sandwich. I get that all the time,” O’Toole said. “Someone told me that I’m clinically insane for thinking that a baseball player makes more in an at-bat than I do in four years.”
(The average major-leaguer makes roughly $4.4 million in a full-length season — or about $8,000 per at-bat assuming they play every day. That number skyrockets for players making more than the league average.)
CEO and co-founder Jon Patricof said he and partner Jonathan Soros saw the potential for growth in women’s sports and decided it was time to disrupt the way leagues looked and operated.
Soros, the son of billionaire George Soros, “really said to me, ‘Why don’t we think about different ways that we could change the league? Let’s not just add a W in front of … the NBA, let’s not just copy what’s been done before but let’s really innovate and think about where fans are heading,’” Patricof said.
“And the big thing around where fans are heading is that they’re following individual athletes more than they’re following teams. That is just the reality across sports. And I thought to myself, women’s pro athletes … are these incredible women. They’re incredible athletes, they perform amazing feats. But they’re also amazing off the field and their fans follow them. Fans that have followed them throughout their careers — (the) high school level and college level, especially — why not build something incredible upon that upon that platform? So that was really the genesis of the idea.”
Katiyana Mauga has been busy since leaving the UA, playing for an independent professional team and serving on staff at Mississippi State. She is one of a handful of former Wildcats in a new league.
Patricof and Soros started with softball because of the popularity of the sport. Volleyball is up next. Athletes Unlimited hopes to launch its next league this winter in Nashville, and has plans to expand to other sports.
Though the teams will change by the week, O’Toole said she’s determined to play with Mauga one way or another. These two have a special bond on the field, as anyone who watched the 2017 Wildcats knows.
O’Toole had the ability to shake off bad pitches or rough innings.
Mauga, playing third base, “would put me in check sometimes because I did need the kick in the pants every now and then — it wasn’t just by myself,” O’Toole said. “I do think that this is definitely beneficial for any competitive athlete.”
Danielle O’Toole pitched in National Pro Fastpitch and was a college assistant coach following her career as a UA pitcher. Now, she’s part of the Athletes Unlimited start-up league.
Since graduating from Arizona, both have stayed in the game.
O’Toole plays for Mexico’s national team. She was planning to play at Hillenbrand Stadium as a warm-up for the 2020 Summer Olympics before the pandemic shut down sports. She pitched for the Chicago Bandits in the NPF, was an assistant at the University of San Diego and has her own coaching business.
Mauga has also coached at the college level. She played for the independent Scrap Yard Dawgs and also has a coaching business.
With most facilities closed, both players have relied on family to help them keep in softball shape.
Mauga’s younger brother, Zayne, might be her No. 1 fan. The two often headed to an open park in their hometown of San Diego to hit off a tee.
“He sometimes tosses me and rolls ground balls,” Mauga said.
O’Toole has been running with her dog, Perdy, and throwing to her husband, Tony Trejo, who is getting better at catching her.
“He’s gotten really good at catching — really good,” O’Toole said. “Actually, to the point where he’s comfortable moving during the pitch now, which is a big bonus for me.”
Arizona third baseman Katiyana Mauga (34) rushes in to field a short hopper from Baylor outfielder Kyla Walker (2) to end the bottom of the third inning of their NCAA Super Regional game two at Hillenbrand Stadium, Saturday, May 27, 2017, Tucson, Ariz. Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Mauga and O’Toole understand the significance of their new league and the importance of starting strong.
“It’s special,” O’Toole said.
“I’m hoping that this opens that door within the next 10 years for women — it’s not going to be me because I’m not going to be playing in 10 — but for women who are like us coming through. They’re going to be able to make that money and make that pay gap smaller and make sure that we are seen in a positive way.”
