SALT LAKE CITY — More than 6,000 Utah youth register to play softball every year, according to USA Softball of Utah. And for most of her life growing up through junior college, Kirstin Matina was one of them.
So when Matina, her husband Sam and the couple's two sons, heard that Utah was inheriting a professional fastpitch softball team with the second-year Athletes Unlimited Softball League, they jumped at the chance to be among the crowd to welcome the Utah Talons to the Wasatch Front for their first home game.
They weren't alone.
A capacity crowd swelled beyond the 1,400 officially noted at Dumke Family Stadium at the University of Utah on Tuesday evening as the Talons rallied from a 2-0 deficit for a 5-2 win over the Chicago Bandits in a rematch of last year's AUSL championship series.
"Honestly, I'm not sure (the sport) was getting the recognition it deserves — but I feel like now, it finally is," Kristin Matina said.
"The community just comes together and really roots for each other," she added. "It's a smaller community, but everyone knows everyone. We're definitely good at rooting on our teams, but especially this one here."
Fans were treated to an even faster-paced version of the game that many of them grew up playing in travel leagues, high school and college. A 15-second pitch clock kept innings moving, and teams had two minutes between innings to clear the field and send the first batter to the plate.
THE FIRST TALONS HOME RUN OF 2026 IS A BRI BOMB 🦅 pic.twitter.com/ofEJjnhwpn
— Utah Talons | AUSL (@AUSL_Talons) June 10, 2026
The fast-paced play fit neatly inside ESPN's two-hour broadcast window, from first pitch to final out.
The speed of play elevates the game for a three-year broadcast deal with the Worldwide Leader, which has committed to broadcasting 50 games on the family of networks including Game 1 of the championship series on ABC — the first time professional softball will be broadcast on over-the-air television.
It's an investment in the game that ESPN hopes to capitalize on after averaging 2.5 million viewers for Game 2 of the Women's College World Series championship series between Texas and Texas Tech.
From the moment ESPN reporter and broadcast personality Holly Rowe threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Montana Fouts' final out to preserve a 5-2 win, Talons fans were engaged and attentive, with chants of "caw-CAW!" and "Claws up!" echoing from the main grandstand to the small berm behind the outfield wall.
One of the powers of sport is to bring a community together, and Rowe hopes the new pro softball team in AUSL can bring Utahns together at a time when professional sports are exploding across the Beehive State.
"A lot of people live and breathe softball," said Rowe, who grew up playing in and watching her father in softball leagues sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "It's been in the fabric of the community in a unique way."
Rowe also hopes to spread the joy that she felt as she sat behind home plate after her ceremonial first pitch. Sports played a critical role in helping her overcome stage 4 metastatic melanoma after her diagnosis in 2015.
Through her foundation JOY+US, Rowe and her associates will select individuals and families going through tough times complimentary tickets and gameday experience to every Utah Talons home game.
Nominations can be made at joyus.foundation.
"It's hard and lonely and scary when you're going through cancer," Rowe said. "I want us to provide a day at the ballpark and some relief for people to get out and get away from their treatment and the scary parts of what they're going through.
"We want to give you some joy. We're having a blast at the ballpark tonight, and I want to pass that joy on to others."
The home crowd proved pivotal in Tuesday night's season opener, too.
After falling behind 2-0 in the first inning, former Arkansas slugger Bri Ellis pegged a home run, a double and three RBI and Alabama alum Fouts scattered just three hits in the final six innings to help the Talons rally for an opening-night win.
"To have the home crowd and that home-team advantage is everything," said Talons coach Cindy Ball-Malone, who owns a 289-145-4 record in eight seasons at UCF that includes six NCAA Tournament appearances. "This game is hard, and to know that we're playing for more than just ourselves and our teammates; we're playing for this community.
"It's not just 16-on-1 with that pitcher. It's all of us against one. That's what is so amazing."
Make that 1,400-plus-16 against the one now.
"We've got a full house out here, and everyone is getting into it," Sam Matina said. "It's awesome. This could last for a long time, hopefully."
