On December 1, 2025, the AUSL held its Expansion Draft and Allocation Draft. This is not to be confused with the AUSL College Draft which will occur next spring. Instead this is to help fill out the rosters of the two new expansion teams (Oklahoma City Spark and Cascade), and select players not currently on college rosters who have declared themselves eligible for the draft.
The Expansion Draft was an 8 round draft for just the Spark and Cascade, where they were allowed to select any non-protected player from any of the existing teams. Prior to the draft, each existing team selected 5 players that could not be snatched by either the Spark or Cascade.
The Oklahoma City Spark won the coin toss and chose utility player Maya Brady with their first overall pick. While the Cascade chose pitcher Sam Landry
Maya Brady was a 4 year starter at UCLA. She is a very solid hitter with a career .348 batting average (.433 if you just could her 2 final years at UCLA), 71 home runs and 246 RBI.
Brady was drafted 19th overall in the inaugural AUSL draft. She missed significant time during the season with a hamstring injury and only played in 8 total games—but during those games she was very productive with a .500 batting average, 11 hits, 1 home run, and 5 RBI. She also won a championship ring with the Talons in the AUSL’s first season. Now the newest member of the OKC Spark, if she stays healthy she can be an immediate impact player for the Spark
With the second overall pick in the Expansion Draft, the Cascade chose pitcher Sam Landry. Landry was the ace pitcher for the Oklahoma Sooners in 2025, and put up an elite stat line with 1.94 ERA, 25-6 record, 191.2 innings pitched, 186 strike outs, and 0.207 opponents batting average.
Landry was drafted first overall by the Volts in the 2025 AUSL College Draft, but her first foray into pro ball was not as successful as she would have liked. She finished the season with a 1-5 record, 4.85 ERA, 39 innings pitched, 21 strike outs, and .274 opponents batting average. If Landry is clearly capable of being an elite pitcher at the pro level, but clearly has not quite adjusted yet.
With Maya Brady’s health issues and Landry not meeting expectations of a #1 overall draft pick, there is a clear reason why they were left out of the protected top 5 players for each team. However, both have the talent to be game changing players for the newest teams in the AUSL.
