How Hayward, Zerkle balance AUSL during recruiting season

The responsibilities of a head coach don’t end when the collegiate season concludes. The summer of recruiting doesn’t leave coaches much time to breathe, especially those who are still in the middle of their own playing careers. The never-ending transfer portal opened in the middle of May and the travel ball circuit is full steam ahead as programs finish up their 2026 classes and prepare for the September 1 doors to open for the 2027 class.

Long-time Athletes Unlimited players Victoria Hayward and Morgan Zerkle have taken over the Nevada and Marshall programs in recent years. As they both continue to shine in the inaugural AUSL season amidst the recruiting cycle, they talked about the challenges that doing both presents.

“It definitely makes it difficult, but I would say you know I want to have a really great relationship with the players that we’re recruiting,” Hayward said. “We do have a good amount of time to connect with them to communicate, but I really think that the ownership is kind of on them to really wanna come to Nevada to see something that we’re doing and get excited about it.”

There are plenty of rewarding aspects to it as well. For example, there is a special piece to playing for a professional athlete in a rapidly growing sport.

“Personally, if I were a kid, I would love to play for a professional athlete,” Zerkle said. “Someone who’s still doing it themselves and knows what it’s like to still suit up, having to deal with the hardships and ups and downs. I think that culture is cool for me.”

“It’s a really special honor.”

Morgan Zerkle talks about how special it was to have the first hit in AUSL history while she’s mic’d up in CF. pic.twitter.com/Joq1V8CtxL

— Bandits | Athletes Unlimited Softball League (@AUSL_Bandits) June 14, 2025

Hayward and Zerkle both admitted that one of the toughest parts is not being on campus for visits. Hayward is taking the time during the upcoming international break at the end of June with her staff, which includes the Bandits’ Delanie Wisz and fellow professional Jillian Celis of the Florida Vibe, to potentially handle a visit. Zerkle has relied on her staff back at Marshall.

Both head coaches agreed that while their recruiting isn’t ideal compared to many situations, it also allows them to find kids who really want to be a part of their programs. They’ve each had success even this offseason, bringing kids home.

“A lot of the success we’ve had in the portal and last year was people coming home,” said Zerkle, a Marshall alum and West Virginia native herself. “I got two transfers who were familiar with Marshall before, and then the transfer I got this summer was a hometown girl as well. That’s fun to get the best players in the state to come back to Marshall and convince them that you can be great here, that’s been good for us.”

Marshall picked up a commitment from infielder Sydni Burko, who spent her freshman season at Indiana. The 2024 four-star recruit grew up in Ona, W. Va., which is less than a 30-minute drive from Marshall. Nevada recently added former Iowa pitcher Talia Tretton, who was the Nevada Gatorade Player of the Year, to their bullpen.

While tools such as Synergy Softball, 64Analytics, and a handful of other third-party tools allow coaches to understand players’ fit despite not getting first-person exposure to them. While that is harder on the high school/travel ball side, that’s why the international break is vastly important to both players too.

“It is so big, especially you know, easy we’re trying to build our staff to be at the capacity of some of the others we’re competing against, with a fully paid fourth coach and player development, just having those resources,” Hayward said. “I think the access to video, the efficiency of it, you know, things I used to do in hours, take five minutes.”

Hayward also recently said she’d be retiring after the end of this AUSL season. There are many factors in her decision, but one was certainly about putting her full time and effort into her Nevada job.

“Balancing multiple things and having multiple passions, I mean, you’re never truly bouncing it as well as you want to,” Hayward said. “There’s always something, whether it’s your personal life, you’re coaching your free time, or with family, like there are just way too many balls to juggle. And you know, I think coaching this season, I loved our team. I love the challenge of being a head coach, and I’m definitely under pressure. Different expectations, different needs for me in terms of what I needed to give my team, so I think just this season fulfilled me as a coach in ways that I probably haven’t experienced before. And I think I wanna be able to pour into that more, and you know, not have how I need to do this in the back of my head, or I need to do this.

“I want to be able to empower my assistants to continue playing. Delanie is playing for the Bandits. I’m so excited to continue to support her. She’s having an amazing year and just being able to help them continue to achieve their dreams. And then they have their assistant Jillian, who is playing for the Florida Vibe, so just helping lead them in those ways and allowing them to have the careers that they want.”

Plenty of coaches have their hands full with recruiting. Other players in the AUSL don’t have the tasks that Hayward and Zerkle have after each game is done. Nevertheless, the two have found a way to not only make it work but also do it well.

For transfer portal news, stay up to date with the Softball America transfer wire and the Dugout, our discussion board for members.

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