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Athletes Unlimited Softball League named Kim Ng as its commissioner Wednesday, entrusting the league’s expansion this summer and beyond to the trailblazing baseball executive who was the first female general manager in a major men’s North American sport.

Ng, 56, who ran baseball operations for the Miami Marlins from 2020 to 2023, had served as a senior adviser to the league as it prepares for a four-team, 10-city, 24-game tour that will serve as a test run for its move next year to six teams in permanent locations.

“I love this sport,” Ng told ESPN. “I grew up playing softball. From middle school on, I played softball, played in college and have, at some points in my career, worked to try and help strengthen the game. Have always kept my eye on it from afar, as I was in baseball, pursuing other things. But it’s been a big part of my life. I have four sisters. Three of us played in college, so it’s been a big part of our lives.

“When you talk about this, I think it’s part of a movement. I think we’re in the middle of this transcendence of women’s professional sports, now a part of the mainstream conversation. And that’s exciting to me.”

While past attempts at professional softball leagues have failed, Athletes Unlimited has for five years run annual softball events out of Rosemont, Illinois, in which players accumulate points in games and the one with the most wins the event. Following the AUSL season, Athletes Unlimited — which also runs women’s basketball and volleyball competitions — will hold the AUSL All-Star Cup, 24 more games in Illinois and North Carolina to crown another individual champion.

In Ng, the league has tabbed a seasoned executive who spent more than 30 years in the Major League Baseball ecosystem, ascending from intern with the Chicago White Sox to assistant general manager with the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers to a senior vice president role at MLB before her time with the Marlins.

After taking over a Miami team that made the postseason in 2020, the Marlins lost 90-plus games in consecutive seasons. Following a surprise playoff run in 2023, Marlins owner Bruce Sherman sought to hire a president of baseball operations above Ng. She left the organization, which has rebuilt since Ng’s departure, went 62-100 last year and has started this season a surprising 8-8.

Running a league, Ng acknowledged, is different than running a team. But with AUSL’s stated intention to involve players in the decision-making processes and the entire league owned by one group, Ng’s role is different than that of her former employer.

“When I hear the word commissioner, it just means leadership,” she said. “And I think being at Major League Baseball really helped me to understand the commissioner’s office and the services that they provide. It’s not just to understand what the clubs need, but you have to lead as well.”

Doing so, Ng said, means focusing on stability over growth, and the hope is that the response in each of the 10 cities on the schedule will lead to it. AUSL’s season will start June 7 in Rosemont (Talons vs. Bandits) and Wichita, Kansas (Volts vs. Blaze), the two cities in which it will play the most games over the season. Other cities on the schedule include Tuscaloosa, Alabama, which will host the championship series July 26-28, as well as Sulphur, Louisiana; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Norman, Oklahoma; Omaha, Nebraska; Seattle; Salt Lake City; and Round Rock, Texas.

Ng said the league plans to lean on social media to boost its profile. In a video posted Sunday, Virginia Tech right-hander Emma Lemley was presented with a “golden ticket,” an indication she had been among the dozen college players selected in the draft. The AUSL plans to hand out more golden tickets in the coming weeks, culminating in ESPNU broadcasting the “AUSL College Draft Show” on May 3.

“The reality is we need to reach more people,” said Jon Patricof, the co-founder of Athletes Unlimited. “We need to get the product in front of more people. We need to expand the presence of the sport.”

Beyond the media efforts, the AUSL is bringing together some of the sport’s biggest names. The four general managers are Cat Osterman (Volts), Lisa Fernandez (Talons), Dana Sorensen (Blaze) and Jenny Dalton-Hill (Bandits). Advisers to the league include Jennie Finch and ESPN analyst Jessica Mendoza.

Softball will get an even greater spotlight in three years as well with its Olympic return at the Los Angeles Games.

“There are all these dots out there that I think just need to be connected in a smart, thoughtful way,” Ng said. “If we can do that, we’re still a few years away from ’28, but if we can do that and make some good moves, hopefully we take gold back in ’28, and that’s another springboard for the sport.”

Ng did not suggest how long she intended to remain commissioner, saying: “I’m not looking at it in terms of time. I want to make sure that this launch goes well, and I want to get us up running and in a good, positive direction.” But Patricof spoke of Ng as if he saw her as an integral piece of AUSL’s future.

“A very important part of getting things right is who you put in charge, and attracting the best caliber of talent not only on but off the field is essential,” he said. “Kim sets the bar. ‘A’ talent attracts ‘A’ talent.

“She has been able to align the sport in a very powerful way. I will say one thing that really stands out is there have been people involved in the sport at the college level who have sat on the sidelines in pro softball. Kim has helped bring them into the league and into the sport. That’s a major differentiator. We have all the greats aligned, past and present.”

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Knights score with 0.4 left to stun Oilers in Game 3

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May 11, 2025

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Knights score with 0.4 left to stun Oilers in Game 3

  • ESPN News Services

May 11, 2025, 12:12 AM ET

EDMONTON, Alberta — Reilly Smith scored with 0.4 seconds left on a shot that deflected in off Edmonton forward Leon Draisaitl‘s stick to give the Vegas Golden Knights a stunning 4-3 victory in Game 3 on Saturday night.

Smith’s goal is tied for the latest game winner in regulation in Stanley Cup playoffs history along with Nazem Kadri‘s goal for the Colorado Avalanche in 2020 and Jussi Jokinen’s goal for the Carolina Hurricanes in 2009, according to ESPN Research.

“Honestly, I’ve seen [Vegas forward William Karlsson] use that play a few times where he forechecks and spins it out in front of the net, jumping off the bench,” Smith said when asked about the play. “I think there was around seven seconds. I just tried. And being first on it. … So I thought there was a chance. And once it popped out I saw a lot of guys sell out. So I just hope that I had enough time to kind of pump-fake and find a lane and, you know, worked out.”

The game-winning goal came after Oilers star Connor McDavid tied it with 3:02 to go with a centering pass that went in off defender Brayden McNabb‘s skate.

“We didn’t sort it out very well to let the puck get into the slot. After that, it’s unlucky, it’s unfortunate,” Draisaitl said of the game-winning goal. “It goes off my stick, and I’m just trying to keep it out of the net. It’s just a bad bounce.”

After Corey Perry gave Edmonton an early 2-0 lead, Nicolas Roy and Smith tied it with goals in a 54-second span late in the first period. Karlsson put the Golden Knights in front with 2:55 left in the second, beating goalie Stuart Skinner off a give-and-go play with Noah Hanifin. And Adin Hill made 17 saves for Vegas.

The Golden Knights’ win Saturday cut Edmonton’s lead to 2-1 in the Western Conference semifinal series. Game 4 is Monday night in Edmonton.

“Before the series starts, if you were to tell us that we were gonna be up 2-1 after three, we’d be happy,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. “We’d be pleased with that, not only up 2-1, but Game 4 at home.”

Vegas rallied in the first period after Golden Knights forward Mark Stone left because of an upper-body injury.

“Big win for our team,” Smith said. “We need to use the momentum in front of us to push forward, but focus one game at a time. That’s kind of always been the mindset for this group. We have a lot of resiliency. So as long as you focus on that next game and get a little bit better every night.”

Roy, playing a day after being fined but not suspended for cross-checking Trent Frederic in the face in overtime in Game 2, cut it to 2-1 off a rebound with 4:43 left in the first. Smith then slipped a backhander through Skinner’s legs with 3:49 to go in the period.

Skinner stopped 20 shots, taking over in goal for the injured Calvin Pickard. Pickard appeared uncomfortable and was seen shaking out his left leg after Vegas forward Tomas Hertl landed on his left pad in Game 2.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Cubs? White Sox? Villanova? Different claims made to Pope Leo XIV’s fandom after election

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May 11, 2025

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Cubs? White Sox? Villanova? Different claims made to Pope Leo XIV's fandom after election

May 8, 2025, 07:46 PM ET

History was made in Vatican City on Thursday, when Pope Leo XIV was introduced as the first American to be elected pontiff.

Leo XIV (birth name Robert Francis Prevost) was born and raised in southern Chicagoland, where he served as an altar boy in the St. Mary of the Assumption parish. Now, as he ascends to the papacy, an unlikely Second City staple is celebrating the moment: the Chicago Cubs.

After his election, ABC reported that Leo XIV was a fan of the Cubs.

But John Prevost — Leo XIV’s brother — had a different view. Prevost spoke to WGN News in Chicago after Leo XIV’s election and rebuked the idea that the Pope was a Cubs fan.

“He was never, ever a Cubs fan,” Prevost said. “So I don’t know where that came from. He was always a [Chicago White] Sox fan.”

Later on Thursday, Chicago’s ABC7 affiliate also reported on Leo XIV’s White Sox fandom. The White Sox themselves got in on the action, posting their own video board celebration and a clip of Prevost’s interview with WGN.

Prevost’s theory for the possible confusion? Their mother, whose family was from the north side of the city, was a Cubs fan.

The lone team that can conclusively claim to hold the rights to the new Pope’s fandom until further clarification is the Villanova Wildcats. Leo XIV graduated from the university as part of the Class of 1977.

“Roommates Show,” a podcast hosted by Wildcats-turned-New York Knicks teammates Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, joked that they’d be having their fellow Villanova alumnus on the show in the near future.

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No timetable for DH Bryant’s return to Rockies

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May 11, 2025

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No timetable for DH Bryant's return to Rockies

  • Associated Press

May 10, 2025, 08:05 PM ET

DENVER — For the next week or so, Kris Bryant will be restricted to not much more than a casual walk as he recovers from a procedure to fix his chronically bothersome back.

The Colorado Rockies designated hitter just hopes this finally alleviates the pain. Bryant returned to town after recently traveling to Los Angeles to undergo a procedure referred to as an ablation, which is designed to interrupt pain signals being sent from the back to the brain. He explained Saturday that it took roughly 45 minutes.

“I feel like I got stabbed in the back right now,” Bryant said before the Rockies played the San Diego Padres. “Not ideal, but I’m in good spirits.”

Once he’s cleared for more than a light stroll, Bryant will return to the weight room in an effort to build strength. There’s no timetable for a return to baseball activities quite yet.

“Just got to let nature take its course,” manager Bud Black explained.

Bryant’s currently on the injured list with lumbar degenerative disk disease, which involves the deterioration of the spinal disks that act as cushions between the vertebrae. It’s his ninth stint on the IL since 2022 due to a series of health issues.

His back has gotten to the point where cortisone shots no longer work. That’s why he had the ablation procedure. Anything to avoid back surgery.

“I don’t want to get to that point. I don’t want to get ahead of myself,” Bryant said. “Just trying to check boxes as they go. We tried all the other, I guess you say, conservative treatments, or more traditional approaches with cortisone shots. They just didn’t work for me. So this was another step along the way.”

“I’m willing to try anything,” added Bryant, whose pain at times has brought on nausea. “It’s weighed on me, for sure. It just sucks.”

The 33-year-old Bryant is hitting .154 this season with no homers, one RBI, 13 strikeouts in 11 games.

Bryant has been limited to 170 games with Colorado since signing a $182 million, seven-year contract before the 2022 season. He’s suffered from an array of injuries, including plantar fasciitis, a bone bruise in his foot, heel issues, a broken finger, a back strain, a lower rib contusion and back problems.

“Right now I feel like I’m in a good spot,” said Bryant, the 2016 NL MVP with the Chicago Cubs. “It just wears on you. It’s not an easy thing for me to deal with but doing the best I can with a pretty crappy situation.”

He hasn’t set any sort of baseball goals quite yet.

“It’s really just one day at a time,” Bryant said. “Just continuing to do everything I can that’s in my power — and the training staff’s power — to find a way to navigate this.”

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