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Chicago among 5 Athletes Unlimited Softball League franchise locations announced for 2026 season

The Athletes Unlimited Softball League has announced the locations of five franchises that will start playing in their assigned locations this season.

The teams announced Tuesday are the Carolina Blaze, Chicago Bandits, Portland Cascade, Texas Volts and Utah Talons. The Oklahoma City Spark had been previously announced as a new addition to the league. The season will start June 9.

“These host cities represent the next major chapter of the AUSL’s growth,” Kim Ng, AUSL commissioner, said. “We are building on the momentum of an historic inaugural season by establishing franchises in markets with strong softball traditions, proven fan engagement, and the infrastructure to support a world-class professional experience.”

The Blaze, Bandits, Volts and Talons played last season as part of the league’s touring format. The Cascade and Spark are new to the league.

On opening night, Utah will host Chicago, Carolina will host Portland and Oklahoma City will host Texas.

The Bandits will play home games at The Stadium at the Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont, Chicago. The Chicago Bandits name goes back to 2005.

“It was something of a no-brainer,” Ng said. “The Bandits were going to end up in Chicago. Such an incredible historic significance to the softball world.”

The Cascade will play home contests at Hillsboro Ballpark in Hillsboro, Oregon. Ng said women’s sports are a significant part of the Portland area’s culture. The city previously hosted the Little League Softball World Series for more than 20 years.

“Portland has been in the midst of this great women’s sports movement that has swept the country and has been making a real push to be the center of women’s sports,” Ng said.

The Talons will play at Dumke Family Stadium at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. Ng said the league had success visiting there last season.

“It was just a great experience,” she said. “Facilities are great, major metro area. So it made a lot of sense for us.”

The Blaze will play at Duke University Softball Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. The Little League Softball World Series is currently played in North Carolina. Ng said Duke coach Marissa Young has built a strong program that has spurred interest in the sport there.

The Volts will play at Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas. The Austin suburb drew the largest crowds when the league toured last year. Ng said the infrastructure from youth softball on up made putting a team in that area an easy decision.

The Spark will play home contests at Tom Heath Field at Oklahoma Christian University in Oklahoma City. Oklahoma City hosts the annual Women’s College World Series and is the home of USA Softball and the Softball Hall of Fame.

Ng said she sees more expansion in the future, and sites that have been visited in the past remain under consideration.

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports

Ryan Fox wins first career major at 2026 Open Championship

CNN
(CNN) — Ryan Fox took home the Claret Jug after draining a birdie putt on the 18th hole to win the 2026 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale on Sunday.The 39-year-old Fox beat out American Cameron Young to win his first career major title, becoming only the third New Zealander to win a men’s major golf championship.Fox came into the final hole tied with Young, after the 29-year-old finished the round at 6-under 64 a few hours before.The Kiwi powered his drive into the middle of the fairway and then set up the biggest putt of his golf career so far with an approach shot that landed about 12 feet from the pin.As the putt fell into the hole, the crowd in Southport, England, gave Fox a rousing ovation as he raised both arms in the air to celebrate the achievement.The putt capped off four birdies in the last six holes for Fox.Fox was at a loss for words while speaking to the NBC Sports broadcast after the win.“I don’t really know what to think at the moment. I’ve got a lot of people to thank. First of all, my family. My wife and kids are in Florida at the moment. I spoke to my kids last night and they said, bring back a trophy. I think that’s a pretty cool one to bring back for them,” Fox said. “My family back in New Zealand and all my supporters back there. I know it’s been a long night for them, but I’m glad it was worthwhile.”Fox finished with a 2-under 68 after trailing Sam Burns, who held a two-stroke lead coming into Sunday’s final round.Fox also becomes the third-oldest major winner in the last 10 years, trailing only Phil Mickelson at the 2021 PGA Championship and Tiger Woods at the 2019 Masters.“Just an unbelievable week. The golf course was fantastic. The English weather was fantastic. You guys out there were fantastic. The support was amazing. This is pretty cool. I’m sorry if I’ve forgotten anyone, but thank you very much,” Fox added.It is another disappointment for Young, who is still looking for his first career major title despite winning The Players earlier this year. Young finished one shot back of the win at the 2022 Open Championship at St. Andrews and held the lead heading into the final round at the Masters back in April.It is also another let down for Burns, another golfer looking for his maiden major win.The Louisiana State University alum came into the round ahead by two strokes but quickly lost it and went birdie-free for the final 12 holes.“(Fox) is a well-earned champion and hats off to him,” Burns said. “He did what he needed to do down the stretch and ultimately just came up a couple short today.”Defending champion Scottie Scheffler stayed within striking range throughout the round, but wound up with a 3-under 67 on Sunday to finish tied for fourth with Tommy Fleetwood.After a drama-filled tournament, Bryson DeChambeau finished tied for 14th while Rory McIlroy, who has been critical of the LIV Golfer all tournament long, ended tied for 40th.Fox’s journey to first major winFox’s road to his first career major title wasn’t the easiest. It came with many bumps and U-turns.While speaking to CNN’s Don Riddell ahead of the Desert Classic in Dubai in early 2025, Fox opened up about his mental health issues, including being an older rookie after spending years on the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour of Australia.“I think being a rookie at 37 years old on the PGA Tour was, I probably wasn’t quite prepared for what that was again,” Fox told CNN.“I knew all the golf courses, knew how to travel work, knew where to stay, and everything was new on the PGA Tour, and that was probably a shock to the system more than anything.”Fox comes from a lineage of athletes within his family tree, including his father, Grant Fox, who was a main kicker for the New Zealand national rugby team and his grandfather, Merv Wallace, a former New Zealand cricketer who later coached the national team.Fox spoke out on the “pressure” a golfer faces, mentioning the 2024 death of former PGA Tour golfer Grayson Murray, whose parents later confirmed it was death by suicide.“It can be a stressful life. It’s all performance-based. There’s a lot of pressure on – Looking after your mental health is really, really important, and having people to talk to and all of that is part of that,” Fox said.“It’s a shame it got to that point with Grayson that, you know, we’ve had to have those, those pretty tough conversations now, but it will help – hopefully it helps someone else in a similar situation going forward because we certainly don’t want to see it again.”CNN’s Kyle Tatelbaum and Don Riddell contributed to this reporting This write has been updated with additional reporting The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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