Sellout crowd at Wichita State dazzled again by Sydney McKinney in AUX pro softball
Last fall, when Athletes Unlimited determined it would bring its professional softball league to Wichita, Sydney McKinney delivered a promise to commissioner Cheri Kempf.
“There will be sellouts,” McKinney assured the Athletes Unlimited vice president. “I believe in Wichita fans and I believe in the community.”
The former Wichita State softball star’s vision has unfolded exactly how she thought it would, as the AU Pro Softball AUX league registered its second straight sellout crowd at Wilkins Stadium on Wednesday evening.
More than 900 fans were treated to the most entertaining doubleheader yet: Mariah Mazon tossed the league’s first complete-game shutout, then McKinney delighted her home fans with hits and highlight defensive plays and Tori Vidales blasted a walk-off home run in the nightcap.
It was six years ago when McKinney took a chance in Wichita. After cementing her status as a legend and propelling the program forward to new heights, she knew betting on Wichita again would pay off.
“The sellout crowds show that,” McKinney said. “You can tell people are starting to really get into our games and you look up and see everybody cheering for everyone. It’s just so cool to be a part of something like this. It means a lot to me.”
AUX is the first professional women’s sports league to play a full season in Wichita, something that likely doesn’t happen without McKinney, who spearheaded softball’s popularity at WSU with her timely hitting and smooth defensive plays.
The Wichita crowd erupted on Wednesday when the former Shocker shortstop, who wore No. 26 for the gold team captained by Jocelyn Alo, made a signature diving play up the middle to rob a hit.
Paired with a 2-for-3 effort at the plate, which earned McKinney a third-place MVP nod, it felt an awfully lot like 2023 at Wilkins Stadium.
“It feels so cool to be back here playing in front of Wichita fans again,” McKinney said. “It means a lot to me to be able to be a role model for the next generation and help bring professional softball here. It’s really humbling. I know all of my teammates have really enjoyed it here.”
After battling to attract consistent crowds last summer in Rosemont, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, Athletes Unlimited has enjoyed a steady audience for its AUX competition the past week at Wilkins Stadium.
Players have noticed a difference.
“It’s been amazing to be able to play in front of sell-out crowds,” said Vidales, who also became just the third player in AUX history with 100 career hits on Wednesday. “That’s something that you dream about, playing professionally and hoping people want to see you play. And I’m not going to lie, being on Sydney’s team is pretty awesome because the crowd cheers for you a little bit louder.
“It’s awesome for them to be able to support their hometown hero and also get to watch some new players. I’m sure they haven’t seen some of us play before, so maybe they’ll find some new favorite players to follow here.”
Growing the game has been a constant theme for AUX and the professional players who have come to Wichita.
It’s why after playing a four-hour doubleheader, players lingered after the final game to interact with the fans who stuck around until Vidales’ walk-off home run. Players fulfilled every last autograph request and some simply chatted with younger softball players about the game.
“For a lot of us players, we didn’t get to watch softball growing up,” Vidales said. “The only time we ever saw professionals was when Team USA was doing their Olympic tour before they left. And that’s only every four years and if you can get tickets and if you’re close to where they were playing. There were so many if’s.
“Now there’s an opportunity for girls to watch professional softball and so many talented athletes from all around the world. It’s so cool to see little girls in the crowd look at us and think, ‘I want to be them.’ Because growing up, we had to look up to men. And now it’s so special for this generation to be able to look up to women and want to be those women.”
The third and final session will kick off with a Saturday doubleheader beginning at noon, followed by a Sunday doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. and the Tuesday finale begins at 4:30 p.m.
In her second professional season, McKinney has flourished in a return to her former home. She leads the league with 12 hits and a .571 batting average through eight games, much like she led the NCAA in hitting her final year as a Shocker.
“I’m just trying to be consistent right now,” McKinney said. “It’s easy to get too high or too low in this league because everybody is so good. You don’t want to get too high because everybody here will humble you real quick, but you also don’t want to get too low because you need to stay up and get hits.
“I think playing (back in Wichita) has had a huge impact for me because everybody cheers so loud for me and I’m so grateful. Looking everywhere and seeing loving faces gives me all of the confidence in the world.”
This story was originally published June 20, 2024 at 6:01 AM.
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