PHOENIX – Golden Ticket recipients. Big 12 Athlete of the Year nominees. All-Americans.
Kenzie Brown and Sydney Stewart checked nearly every college softball box in their careers, but they did it from opposite dugouts.
Brown, an Arizona State pitcher, and Stewart, an Arizona catcher, spent the final seasons of their collegiate careers as anchors of rival programs before forming an unexpected bond in their professional softball careers.
Instead of trying to throw pitches past Stewart’s bat, Brown is now trying to throw them into Stewart’s mitt as the pitcher-catcher duo for the Athletes Unlimited Softball League’s latest expansion team, the Portland Cascade.
Although they came from the most intense college rivalry in the state of Arizona, it didn’t take long for them to bond.
“It was seamless,” Stewart said “It was so much fun. We’re just goofy, we’re weird, and it’s like we’re the same people almost. It’s uncanny to see how much we click.”
There is a comfort that comes from common experiences, playing in the same state, conference and squaring off against each other multiple times each season.
“There’s just a different level of personality and familiarity there that just meshed with us super well off the bat,” Brown said. “I’m just really thankful we’re on the same side of the ball.”
Although the tension was there for Brown every time she squared off with the Wildcats, she said the softball community is stronger than rivalry.
“I’ve always respected the way that she’s played. She plays with a lot of grace. I never once was like, ‘Oh, I hate her,’” Brown said. “I think the rivalry is real in college. But once you’re out of college, at the end of the day, softball is a huge community, and being able to kind of relate to other women who play Division I athletics and in the same conference in the same state, there’s just a level of relatability to that.”
While the college regular season was still underway, they each received a Golden Ticket, sealing their future in the AUSL while taking another step in their softball careers together.
On May 4, Portland drafted both of them just days before they matched up in the Big 12 softball tournament.
“Getting to play on the same team as each other, getting drafted to the same team – once I saw that, I was like, ‘Wait, this is fun!’” Stewart said. “I think I texted her like the day we got drafted. I’m like, ‘Hey, teammate!’”
Fate kept pushing them closer together
“Whenever I was on my flight to training camp, I found out Sid was my roommate,” Brown said. “We were roomed together for two weeks in Vero Beach (Florida), and like right from the jump, Sid and I just got along. As much as I can’t stand the team down south, Sid has been great and she’s a wonderful human being.”
Playing for a Power Four softball program means facing some of the toughest hitters as a pitcher, but the talent threshold goes up while playing professionally.
“One through nine, every single lineup that I face, every hitter is really, really good,” Brown said. “Almost all of them are All-Americans, so it’s definitely different in trying to adjust without overcompensating what you’re really good at.”
A big adjustment for the righty this season is the pace of play.
“With the 15-second pitch clock instead of the 20. That’s been a little bit different, but good, honestly, for me, just because I’m a fast worker,” Brown said.
While the pitch clock is also a change to navigate for Stuart, getting used to the new strike zone and the physical demands of the game have been bigger challenges.
“The strike zone has been different,” Stewart said. “And then obviously your body is tired from the season, too, but it’s been cool because you just get to piece things together and you obviously have new teammates.
“Just getting to see how you learn from the vets and just from different perspectives, I feel like I’m definitely a different player than I was in college but also like embodying things that I’m good at and things that kind of like (are) my core.”
Stewart said veteran teammates have aided her professional growth.
“I’ve learned so much and I’ve definitely been challenged,” she said. “But it’s cool having the people that you have around you that have been pros, that are vets, and I’ve asked questions.
I just feel like my softball IQ has gotten even better and it’s been a lot of fun. I feel like I’ve learned a lot about myself and just about what type of softball player I am in the past month and a half. ”
While the pair have found friendship as teammates, there are other less subtle benefits.
“Thank God I don’t have to throw to her anymore. Good lord, she’s a tough out,” Brown said. “She’s adapted so well to me. I’m really lucky to have her behind the plate for sure.”
During her senior year at Arizona, Stewart hit .390 with 20 home runs and 76 RBIs, setting a school slugging percentage record at .866.
“There aren’t many holes with Sydney,” Brown said. “As a pitcher, it’s really tough because no matter where I put the ball, she was going to hit it in that direction. I didn’t know what I could throw her to get her out, just because it felt like she was just so hard at times.
“With a lot of hitters, they can either hit up or down really well or side to side. With Sid, it’s that she just has really good hand-eye coordination and elite-level instincts that you just can’t teach. That’s honestly what makes Sydney Sydney and so special, and why she’s at this level. She’s just so naturally gifted at what she does. Even though she works really, really hard, she’s naturally gifted at softball, catching, hitting, all the things. She’s just an elite ball player.”
Stewart had equal praise for her new pitcher, whose senior campaign ended with a 2.29 ERA in 168 innings pitched and 266 strikeouts.
“I tell people this all the time: She was like the steal of the draft,” Stewart said. “In college, the hardest pitcher I faced is Kenzie Brown. Her ability to change speeds and just have elite spin and throw hard is so cool. I think also her ability just to wipe things – that’s something that I’ve learned about her is that she can take things with a grain of salt and just be like, ‘OK, next pitch,’ which I think is so cool.”
While Stewart admires Brown’s pitching abilities, she also praised her leadership skills.
“She just seems very stoic in her process, and she does things the right way, and that’s what I liked about playing against her,” Stewart said. “She’s just a competitor and her team looked to her a lot, too, which I loved. She was just a leader.”
As their rookie seasons wind down, the pair continue to live out their dreams of playing softball professionally, and the duo was among six Cascade players to crack the 2026 AUSL All-Star Cup roster.
Brown ended the season with nine appearances in the circle with a 3.56 ERA and 40 strikeouts, tied for fifth most in the AUSL.
Stewart ended her rookie campaign with 10 runs, six RBIs and two home runs.
“These are the moments that you dream of as a little kid,” Brown said. ”Being from a small town, there aren’t many people who go Division I, let alone pro. So it’s just really awesome that I get to represent my community and where I come from.”
Playing against players that she has looked up to is a highlight for Stewart.
“Just surreal,” she said. “You’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m playing with these big names,’ and you realize that they’re just humans, regular humans, too. Even though you did grow up watching them, and you know some of them are your idols, seeing Dejah Mulipola, that’s one of my catching idols, and playing against her has been so cool.”
Brown has seen the league grow quickly with Portland a direct beneficiary.
“Portland has been great,” she said. “The crowd, our venue is absolutely amazing, and there are a ton of little ones that come to our games that want to have autographs after pictures, all the things, so that’s been so cool. Seeing all of the people so invested – that’s what’s honestly making this league grow as fast as it is, is the support that we have.”
Brown and Stewart are excited to be a part of history in the up-and-coming league.
The Cascade is set to make its first playoff appearance as the No. 3 seed in the play-in game to the AUSL championship after finishing the season with a 14-11 record.
“Softball has just been on the cusp of breaking through, and I feel like being a part of this breakthrough has been so cool,” Brown said. “I just can’t wait to see where it’s at even 20 years from now. I just think it’s going to be so awesome and more sustainable for female athletes to make a living off of it.”
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