Former Keystone High star Kara Dill named head coach in new professional softball league

Lorain County native and current University of Texas at Arlington softball coach Kara Dill continues to add to an already impressive resume with her recent promotion to head coach of the Blaze of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League. Dill, a former Keystone state champion and University of Kentucky standout, was promoted to head coach in late November following a season as associate head coach, and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the rapidly growing AUSL. "It just feels like a league that's doing it the right way," Dill said. "It feels awesome to be part of something that could maybe sustain itself for a long time." The AUSL is a professional women's softball league that was announced in the spring of 2024 and launched in June 2025. The league, part of the Athletes Unlimited network of professional sports, started as a touring entity last year but will officially assign home cities to teams this year as the AUSL transitions to a city-based league. The original four teams include the Bandits, Blaze, Talons, Volts, and with the success of its inaugural season, the AUSL added the Oklahoma City Spark and Cascade as expansion teams this year. The league has brought on a ton of big names from professional baseball and softball and has garnered support from MLB as well as a multiyear broadcast partnership with ESPN that includes a marquee game on ABC — the first time professional softball will air on broadcast television in the U.S. Kim Ng, general manager of the Miami Marlins from 2020-23 and the first woman to serve as general manager of a major American men's professional sports team, serves as AUSL commissioner, while Jennie Finch, Cat Osterman, Natasha Watley and Jessica Mendoza serve as advisors to the league. "I went in with a really open mind," Dill said of coaching in the AUSL. "I didn't know what to expect, but the professionalism of AUSL, the financial backing — especially when the MLB got involved — those were big moves that we had been trying to do in softball for a long time. "With Kim running [the league] … I watched from afar, watched her make decisions, and you can tell she just has a wealth of knowledge. She's incredibly intelligent and she's patient in her decision-making. She just has a lot of wisdom and I felt confident that this league under her tutelage was going in the right direction. There's no doubt that the talent is phenomenal, it's just the scaffolding around it has improved greatly. They've poured a lot of resources in." When joining Athletes Unlimited which, historically, featured player-run teams and events, Dill wasn't totally sure what to expect or how she and the coach staff would be received. But the competitive drive was the same regardless of the athletes' ages and experience — and certainly a desire for the league to succeed — so she leaned into that. "What's been awesome for me is we have such a mixed age of athletes," she said. "Some of the oldest ones are my age and some are just getting out of college. So, that span of 15-some years and the amount that softball has changed in those 15 years is mind-blowing. The amount of resources and scouting tools that we didn't have when I played are so commonplace in the game now." Part of those resources include the advancement of available data and analytics, and because Blaze General Manager Dana Sorensen has brought a data-focused mindset to the team, that became Dill's focus upon taking the head coaching job. "They loved the information," Dill said of bringing data and analytics to the players. "They loved learning, and I think some older players who never had it are so interested in learning. They're craving this knowledge and this high-level skillset just trying to find ways to make them better. "The league is so talented. There's not a lot of discrepancies among the talent; everybody is just so good. Those little things are going to set you apart because that gap is so, so small. For me, it was the idea that you can take all these generations of players who are so bought into this one idea of getting better, helping this team win. That part is really inspiring." The Blaze finished fourth last season at 7-17 after several injuries to the pitching staff, but after this year's draft, which was broadcast Dec. 1 on ESPN, Dill walked away feeling confident in the balance of her roster. There are still three roster spots left, which will be filled in April during the college draft, but this season, only one Blaze player — NCAA All-American and U.S. women's national team infielder Baylee Klingler — will be overseas to start the year in the Japan Diamond League, leaving fewer "uncontrollables" for the team to contend with. "We had a lot of uncontrollables early in the year last year that were tough," Dill said. "[We had] those top pitchers in Japan for the first couple weeks and setting the tone without them was tough. "I think after that first year, just being able to learn some of those nuances, it carved a path of what the athletes need and want, so bringing back some of those leadership pieces I think will help a lot in building our program to be more successful as far as wins and losses go." Dill had to learn some nuances herself, coming from coaching high-level college softball to moving up in the professional ranks, but reframing athletes' expectations and alleviating some of the pressure of the league's success has helped shape her own perspective. "They know how to field a ground ball. They know how to throw a rise ball," she said. "It's managing the roster. It's managing expectations. It's managing the pressure they feel. They know, too, that this league has a chance to do great things, but they are the reason it's going to do great things. I think they feel that weight to an extent, but it's helping those athletes manage the pressure of that … and managing perspective. I was pleasantly surprised with being able to manage that sort of an age gap." And regardless of age gaps, everyone is there for the same reason — to compete, certainly, but to also continue to grow the game of softball. "In another 10 years, 15 years, how many opportunities will there be for these young athletes who want to play and have a profession as an athlete in the game of softball? It's like, man, we're getting a chance to build that right here and right now. I want to make sure that's never lost on me." Contact Marissa McNees at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.