A name synonymous with softball in the United States, Cat Osterman returns to Athletes Unlimited as the general manager for the Volts during the inaugural 2025 AUSL season. Renowned as one of the top pitchers in the sport’s history, Osterman competed in three Olympic Games while serving as a member of the United States National Team from 2001-10 and 2019-21. She guided Team USA to the Gold medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics with two victories and a save while serving as the youngest player on the roster. Team USA also claimed a Silver medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with Osterman anchoring the pitching staff. Over her 20 seasons playing at softball’s highest level, Osterman fashioned an impressive 74-5 record in the circle with a 0.44 earned run average and 1,030 strikeouts over 519.0 innings. The only three-time winner of the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award, Osterman had a historic playing career at Texas from 2002-06. She led the Longhorns to three Women’s College World Series appearances in 2003, 2005 and 2006 and earned a pair of WCWS All-Tournament Team certificates. The four-time NFCA All-America performer claimed the sport’s highest honor as the 2005 and 2006 Honda Award winner for softball and was honored as the 2005 and 2006 ESPY Award winner as the Top Collegiate Female Athlete. Osterman still holds several Longhorns’ career pitching records, including wins (136), earned run average (0.51), shutouts (85), no-hitters (20), perfect games (7), innings pitched (1,105.2), appearances (180) and strikeouts (2,265). She also holds the distinction of being the only student-athlete in softball history to lead the nation in earned run average multiple times, doing so three times. With a 14.34 strikeout-per-seven-inning average, Osterman still holds the NCAA top mark after nearly 20 years. She held opposing hitters to just a .096 clip across her collegiate career. A four-time Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Year honoree, Osterman still owns league records in career wins, ERA, strikeouts, no-hitters, perfect games and shutouts. She also claimed the 2006 NCAA Today’s Top VIII Award, which was awarded to the top eight senior student-athletes in the country. She is one of just five pitchers in NCAA Division I history to record at least 100 career victories, 1,000 career strikeouts and a career ERA under 1.00. In addition to her success in the circle, Osterman also excelled academically at Texas and garnered Third-Team CoSIDA Academic All-America® honors as a sophomore in addition to three Academic All-Big 12 Conference Team citations. She will be inducted into the College Sports Communicators Academic All-America® Hall of Fame in June 2025. After graduating from Texas, Osterman was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2006 National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) league draft by the Connecticut Brakettes, but never played with the team. She spent two seasons with the Rockford Thunder, earning MVP honors at the NPF Championship Series after leading Rockford to the league title over the USSSA Pride. Osterman went on to lead the USSSA Pride to three NPF championships over six seasons. She earned All-NPF status six times, including a pair of Pitcher of the Year certificates, and finished as the league’s all-time leader with a 0.91 career earned run average. In addition, Osterman ranks second in league history with 1,260 strikeouts. In addition to her playing career, Osterman spent six years as an assistant coach at Texas State, helping the Bobcats rise to the top of the Sun Belt Conference. Texas State, which reached the NCAA Tournament three times during Osterman’s tenure, closed the 2018 season with a 43-16 record and the regular season and tournament titles, marking the program’s first championships since joining the league. With Osterman in the dugout, the Bobcats’ pitching staff posted a sub-2.00 earned run average three times over six seasons. Before joining the Texas State staff, Osterman spent three seasons as an assistant coach at St. Edwards University. The Hilltoppers compiled a 98-69 record and an appearance in the NCAA DIvision II Super Regionals. St. Edwards won the Heartland Conference Tournament in 2012, while climbing to a runner-up finish in the league postseason in 2013 and 2014. Osterman began her coaching career at DePaul from 2008-10, helping the Blue Demons earn three Big East Championships and a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. No stranger to Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball, Osterman earned the inaugural 2020 AU Pro Softball Championship Season title with a league-record 2,408 leaderboard points. She garnered 14 wins in 23 career appearances and still holds league standards for earned run average (1.64) and innings (124.0), while her 145 strikeouts are second on the all-time chart. Osterman was 16-8 as a captain over two seasons, including a league-record 10 wins during the inaugural campaign. Osterman was enshrined in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2013 before securing a spot in the World of Little League® Hall of Excellence. She was the fourth female and first softball inductee to join the Hall of Excellence. Osterman earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Texas in 2007 before securing a master’s degree in educational and counseling psychology with a concentration in positive coaching from Missouri in 2015. Osterman, who is married to Joey Ashley, has a daughter named Jaycee and a step-daughter named Bracken.

Ricci Woodard has quickly become one of the most well-respected coaches across the entire NCAA Division I level. Entering her 26th season at the helm of Texas State, she has amassed a record of 878-521-2 (.627) while coaching 102 all-conference selections, 35 all-region honorees and six NFCA All-Americans. Under her guidance, the Bobcats have collected 14 conference championships, eight regular season titles and six conference tournament titles, in both the Southland Conference and Sun Belt Conference, respectively while appearing in 11 NCAA Tournaments. In addition, Woodard is a five-time coach of the year honoree. Prior to her illustrious coaching career at Texas State, she helped lead the University of Oregon to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances as an assistant coach. She played collegiately at Central Arizona Junior College and New Mexico State.