Arizona softball alums atop Athletes Unlimited leaderboard

If you tuned into Athletes Unlimited softball action this past weekend, you might have momentarily mistaken the broadcast as an Arizona Wildcats showcase.

Over three days, a trio of former Arizona pitchers dominated in their circle, while their ex-batterymate continued her dominance of the country’s premier professional softball league.

When all was said and done and Athlete Unlimited’s unique scoring system was tallied up, former Wildcats make up three of the the top five spots of the league leaderboard heading into the fifth and final week of the season.

Catcher Dejah Mulipola leads all players with 1,462 points. Alyssa Denham tops all pitchers with 1,316 points for third place, while Danielle O’Toole, also a pitcher, is in fifth place with 1,226 points.

Another former Arizona standout pitcher, Taylor McQuillin, had her best week yet in Athletes Unlimited, catapulting her up 20 spots to 33rd place.

On Friday, O’Toole started the first game of the night for Team McCleney and threw a complete game, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out five. O’Toole earned a game-high 204 points.

Pitchers earn +4 points for every out and -10 points for each earned run allowed. O’Toole earned an additional 100 points for each inning won and 40 points as the game’s runner-up MVP.

In the second game of the night, Denham matched O’Toole with a complete game of her own, only allowing two runs on three hits while striking out three in a win for Team Chidester. Denham secured 224 points, bolstered by 120 points for innings won and 40 points as the runner-up MVP.

Mulipola, the captain for Team Mulipola, took home 40 points in the loss. Position players are awarded points for getting on base, stealing bags or hitting sacrifice flies or bunts.

On Saturday, McQuillin pitched four scoreless innings in a win for Team Mulipola, striking out four. McQullin earned a game-high 178 points including 90 for inning wins and 40 as the runner-up MVP.

Denham returned to the mound Sunday and pitched another complete game, this one a shutout. Denham earned 264 points, 120 of which came from inning wins and 60 from being named MVP.

In the final game of the weekend, it was an Arizona pitching showdown between former teammates O’Toole and McQuillin. O’Toole pitched six innings, allowing three runs in defeat, while McQuillin pitched a scoreless first four innings for victorious Team Mulipola.

Mulipola led all players with 230 points, followed right behind by McQuillin with 238 points. McQuillin was named MVP, worth 60 points, with Mulipola finishing runner-up.

The final week of the season begins Friday, and a pair of ex-Wildcats, Mulipola and Denham, are captains for two of the four teams. All games are aired on ESPN+ or the ESPN family of networks.