Mary Iakopo

Mary Iakopo is a 5-foot-10 catcher from Carson, California. She was selected from the Reserve Athlete Pool by the Bandits on June 15, 2025.

Personal Life

Education: Pursuing her master’s degree in digital strategy and audience engagement at Arizona State.

Hobbies: Enjoys taking her dogs, Cinco and Saint, on walks as well as being outside. Also likes to play pickleball.

Background: Currently works for a digital marketing company and threw a ceremonial first pitch at a Chicago White Sox game in April 2026.

Professional Experience

Athletes Unlimited Softball League (2025–)

2026 AUSL Postseason (Chicago Bandits): Iakopo started two of the Bandits' three postseason games, contributing a 1-for-3 effort in the Play-In Game victory over Portland.

2026 AUSL Regular Season (Chicago Bandits): Iakopo accumulated a .197 batting average with two home runs and 10 runs batted in, tying for fifth in the league after being hit by a pitch five times. She opened the season strong, hitting safely in eight consecutive games from June 9 to June 22, posting a .474 average (9-for-19) during that stretch with two home runs and five runs batted in. Iakopo posted a season-high two hits, including a home run, with two runs batted in against Oklahoma on June 16. On June 30, against Portland, she contributed a triple while driving in two runs.

2025 AUSL All-Star Cup: Collected 680 total leaderboard points, earning a starting assignment in five of seven games.

2025 AUSL Regular Season: Split time between the Volts and Bandits, seeing action in 14 games with 10 starts. Starting catcher for the Bandits in both AUSL Championship games.

Other Professional & International Experience (2022-2023)

WPF (2022–2023): Drafted No. 3 overall by the Smash It Sports Vipers and competed for them across two campaigns.

Team USA (2017): Guided Team USA to a Gold medal at the 2017 WBSC Junior Women’s World Championship by hitting .500.

College Experience: Oregon & Texas (2018–2022)

Iakopo started 266 career games, fashioning a .333 batting average with 50 home runs, 41 doubles, and 208 RBIs.

Senior Campaign (2022, Texas): Ranked third on the team with a .335 batting average, hitting 11 home runs and a team-best 58 RBIs.

Career Milestones: She ranks second on the Longhorns’ all-time list with 171 career RBIs and third with 43 home runs.

Awards & Honors

All-Conference: Three-time All-Big 12 Conference performer, including First-Team accolades in 2021 and 2022.

All-Region: Three-time NFCA All-Region selection.