Tori Vidales, a professional softball player in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL), has made a name for herself on the field, hitting game-winning home runs and making game-saving catches. Off the field, Vidales’ resume is equally impressive, with her career as a softball analyst for the SEC Network taking off in 2022. During the season, her schedule is packed, but Vidales is no rookie when it comes to handling the chaos and finding balance.
Growing up, Vidales quickly discovered her passion for softball and committed to continuing her career at Texas A&M when she was 14 years old. While Vidales spent much of her time honing her craft, when she wasn’t on the diamond, she was participating in a wide variety of activities – musical theatre, drill teams, soccer, track and field, swimming and diving, cheerleading, basketball, and volleyball, where she was a three-year team captain.
“My parents were very adamant about us choosing the sport instead of us just being thrown into something and being expected to play,” said Vidales. “We grew up at the fields, and my parents did a great job allowing us to explore other things. I think it made a difference because it allowed us to explore and do a lot of different things, but still fall in love with one sport if we were drawn more to it. They say if something leaves but then comes back, it is meant for you, and that is how I feel about softball.”
In addition to a successful career at Texas A&M, becoming the program’s all-time leader with 198 runs scored, 480 total bases, 219 runs batted in, and the first-ever home run to be hit at Davis Diamond, Vidales’ career accomplishments also include competing as a member of Team Mexico in the 2020 Olympics. Vidales made her first appearance in the Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball All-Star Cup in 2020 and was drafted in 2025 to compete with the Talons in the inaugural season of the AUSL. Ahead of the 2025 AUSL All-Star Cup, Vidales chose the Little League® Girls with Game® Initiative as her Athletes Cause, a program that provides grants equal to 100% of an athlete’s win bonus to a nonprofit of their choice.
“I chose Girls with Game because I really wanted to connect with my younger self and give back to something that I wished that I had when I was that age. Giving girls an opportunity to explore themselves through sports is extremely important to me. That is where I learned so many of the skills,” said Vidales. “The personality that I have now was built on a softball field between those white lines. I think as a kid, there are so many opportunities to learn in sports, and it will teach you more about than just sports; it teaches you about life. So, I wanted to give it back that way because I think it’s so important. Sports teach us so much more than just how to win.”
While in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, for the fourth-annual Little League Girls with Game Experience, where she led the youth participants in a series of goal-setting and confidence-building exercises, Little League sat down with Vidales for a special “Six Innings Conversations” to learn more about her journey and advice for the next generation:
First Inning: What life lessons did you learn as a youth athlete from either your coaches or your parents that you have carried into your collegiate and professional careers?
Some of the lessons really come back to failure and how to deal with it. If you’ve never played softball, you don’t realize how much the ups and downs can really contribute to your success or your failure, really learning how to control that at a young age. Of course, we all get angry when we get out, but it truly becomes, how strong is your brain? How fast can you get over those failures and turn them into something important? There is always an opportunity to learn, whether it’s from a coach or maybe just a different perspective of a teammate. A lot of those things go into, you know, being self-reflective as well. How can I be better? How can I approach this situation better? Because a lot of it’s not even on the field, it’s off the field.
Second Inning: What did it mean to you to represent Mexico on the biggest stage in international sports at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics?
It was amazing to be able to represent Mexico. That is near and dear to my heart because of my grandparents. That’s where I come from. I didn’t really have a close relationship with my grandparents; they passed when I was very young. So, for me, it was almost like giving back to them. Like, look how proud you’d be that I’m representing you guys, not just me or my parents. Now we get to represent way more than whatever I thought was possible and it was able to kind of open my mind up a little bit more of, you know, there’s not one way to do things and one path because I never thought growing up that I’d be on the Mexican National Team… and even young girls that look like me, that may have the same story as me. It was another way to connect with where I come from and a way for young girls to connect to someone who they see may look like them, because I didn’t always see that growing up.
Third Inning: What does it mean to you to be a Girl with Game?
Girl with Game – somebody who brings passion, confidence, and competitiveness, but also kindness and acceptance, and a realization that not everyone thinks the same way as you. If we are all chasing the same goal and we bring each other together, we’ll get there together. And what’s better than crossing the finish line with one another?
Fourth Inning: When you hear the phrase “if you can see her, you can be her,” how does it make you feel or what does it make you think of from your journey as an athlete and professional in the industry?
To me, with phones and social media and everything being so prevalent, it’s if you see somebody doing something that you want to do, it means there’s a possibility. It means that there is an opportunity for you and me; it’s about how hard you’re willing to work to get there, right? Everybody has the opportunity, but seeing someone who did it before you who looks just like you, it should give you the confidence to know if she can do it. I can do it, and what’s going to stop me?
Fifth Inning: What advice would you give a youth athlete as they begin their playing journey?
If I had one piece of advice for a younger player starting their softball journey, it is to get comfortable failing because in this game, you’re going to fail a lot, and it’s about how you bounce back. It’s about controlling your mind. Yes, there are physical aspects to the game, but I believe it’s much more mental. And I think you see the successful players that have long careers have learned that part of the game, and have learned how to control their emotions. The earlier you can start, the better.
Sixth Inning: If someone in your community is going to sign up their daughter to play softball and asks you, “Why Little League?” How would you answer that question from the perspective of someone who did not grow up playing in the program?
For me, choosing Little League would be choosing community and choosing people who are pouring into your sport. It’s very easy to kind of get caught up in the glitz and glamor of the sport. But when it comes down to it, who is putting their money where their mouth is? Who is providing not just equipment, but also leadership and information, and connections. The softball world is big, and I feel like Little League has done a great job integrating itself into the softball world. Team USA players come and visit, and AUSL players come and visit and talk to these girls and teach them. And there are activations within. So, I feel like if you want to be a part of the softball community, why not Little League?
Learn more about Athletes Unlimited and the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) by visiting AUProSports.com. To learn more about the Girls with Game initiative, visit LittleLeague.org/GirlsWithGame.