Spaid Makes Pro Debut With Athletes Unlimited

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After appearing in 225 games for Miami Softball over the past four seasons, Karli Spaid officially began the next chapter of her career this week.

The All-American from Chicago, Ill. made her pro debut with Athletes Unlimited, playing in her first game of the AUX season in Wichita, Kan. Monday night on ESPN2. The seventh overall draft pick in 2024, who wore No. 7 at Miami, held down the No. 7 spot in the batting order for Team Warren as the designated player. Karli Spaid Athletes Unlimited

Her first experience as a professional will be one Spaid is certain to remember for a long time…and not just because the Wilkins Stadium lights timed out at 10 p.m. CT and the postgame fireworks show accidentally went off BEFORE the last out was recorded!

Spaid is teamed up with former Miami assistant coach Morgan Zerkle (one of her roommates in Wichita), which has helped make the adjustment to a brand-new level and league a little easier for the rookie.

Of course, by tomorrow, she'll have a new set of teammates, as the Athletes Unlimited format involves captains selecting new teams each Friday in an abbreviated three-week schedule. That sets up a five-week Championship Season in Rosemont, Ill., just a few miles from Spaid's home, beginning July 26.

The league is known for its innovative individual player leaderboard, which awards points for getting on base, being named a game MVP, winning a game, or even scoring more runs in a given inning than the opponent does. A home run is worth 40 points, and --no surprise-- Spaid collected a pair of those in Thursday night's doubleheader to wrap up Series 1. She now owns a total of 270 points after four games, and will look to increase that total when week two of AUX gets underway Sunday afternoon.

Since arriving in Wichita on June 3, she's been able to successfully get acclimated to the league (including meetings, a physical, media day, interviews and all of the preseason administrivia), although getting used to the temperature outside hasn't been quite so easy.

"It is literally so hot EVERY single day," Spaid laughed.

When her team's not busy practicing or playing, Athletes Unlimited sets up different activities for the players to participate in. The last week alone has offered Spaid opportunities to help with a youth softball camp, enjoy a group painting night and even tear down an animal cage during a volunteer service day at the local zoo!

"One of the animals was injured and they didn't want it jumping, so we took a whole bunch of big logs and moved them out of the cage," Spaid said. "Then we mulched a little bit and cut down some tree branches. It was interesting!"

Karli Spaid

On the field, Spaid is not only trying to make an immediate impact, but also working to soak up as much knowledge as she can from some of the greatest players in the history of the sport. An Athletes Unlimited lineup card reads like a who's who of softball royalty, including Spaid's first matchup against former Oklahoma slugger Jocelyn Alo Monday night. Only two players in college softball history have ever hit 100 home runs in a career, Alo (122) and Spaid (103), and it was fitting that they faced off on night one of the AUX schedule. "Hopefully I'll get to be on a team with her," Spaid said.

One of Spaid's biggest goals early on is using what she learns from her fellow competitors about their individual approaches and training habits to help her continue to improve. That growth mindset has carried her since her first practice at Miami (back when she admittedly was only hoping to see the field as a pinch runner!) and helped her re-write the record books during a stellar career wearing the Red and White.

"There are so many legends here that are playing: The biggest names in softball and some of the best players to ever play," said Spaid, who recently graduated with a degree in Sport Leadership and Management. "I want to just learn from the amazingly talented people around me… I think I'd be dumb not to take in all this information I'm receiving!"

While Spaid is doing plenty of listening since getting to Kansas, she has also made a point of trying to 'stay loud' and continue to be a vocal leader in her new surroundings, just like she did in Oxford.

Spaid has always tried to use her voice to encourage not only her team —as anyone in attendance at a RedHawk game could attest, the sound of her infield chatter echoes across the ballpark!— but also the next generation of athletes. Karli Spaid signing autographs

Before the first pitch Monday night, the ESPN cameras caught Spaid in an animated conversation with one of the young girls who was about to take the field as part of the high-five tunnel and national anthem festivities. The smiles were genuine, and encounters like that one help remind Spaid that she can have an enormous influence through the game she loves beyond merely racking up home runs or helping her team collect victories.

"I think especially coming from a mid-major, it means a lot with the platform I have to inspire those little girls who may not go to Oklahoma or Texas to be able to dream and hope that they can make an impact," said Spaid. "To not be heavily recruited, not have all the accolades from high school, and not be ranked with the best recruits, but still: if you put in the hard work and believe in yourself and have confidence in yourself, you're going to be able to do great things.

"You can still make a name for yourself. You can still shock the world. Coming from a smaller program that might not have been as well-known, that's something I definitely take pride in: Being a part of Miami for the past four years and getting better every single year and putting it on the map every single year."

While the uniform colors might be new, Spaid is still proud to represent her alma mater every time she steps to the plate and thankful for how she developed as a student-athlete over the past four seasons.

"Miami helped me get out of my comfort zone a little bit," she reflected. "Coming to a place where everybody's insanely good can be intimidating, but going to Miami gave me confidence in myself and helped me be outgoing and not scared of a new task.

"I think Miami just prepared me all the way around."

Karli Spaid is back in action Sunday, June 16 as part of an AUX Softball Series 2 doubleheader on ESPN2. Click here for the upcoming Athletes Unlimited television schedule, and keep tabs on the AUX leaderboard here.

seeing double 👀 @KarliSpaid leaves the yard in back-to-back games! #AUProSB | 📺 ESPNU pic.twitter.com/5Z7kzWNqra
— AU Pro Softball (@auprosoftball) June 14, 2024

Spaid Makes Pro Debut With Athletes Unlimited

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Karli Spaid

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