Ballston Spa Native Awarded Softball League “Golden Ticket”
Kim Ng of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League presents Ballston Spa native Ana Gold with a “golden ticket” for the league’s upcoming inaugural draft on May 3. Photo via the Duke University softball team.
BALLSTON SPA — Ana Gold, a Ballston Spa native and senior infielder on the Duke University softball team, recently earned a “golden ticket” from the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL), a new professional organization launching in June.
The golden tickets are being awarded to some of the top college players in the country prior to the inaugural AUSL College Draft, which will air on Saturday, May 3 at 9 p.m. on ESPNU.
The AUSL will feature four teams playing a 24-game season in a traditional format. The league’s advisors include Kim Ng, the former general manager of the Miami Marlins and a former assistant general manager for the New York Yankees.
Gold’s college career at Duke has been wildly successful. As of Monday, her career slash line was .309/.412/.610. She’s smacked 49 homers, 7 triples, and 28 doubles for the Blue Devils since her freshman year in 2022. She’s also stolen 50 bases and totaled nearly 200 hits in a little more than 600 at bats.
Last season, she set a number of Duke softball records, including smashing two grand slams in one game and knocking in 8 runs in a single game. She also set the program’s all-time career home run record.
At Ballston Spa High School, she was ranked the No. 39 prospect in the country (according to Extra Innings Softball), was named three times to the Suburban Council’s First Team, and was a two-time Second Team All-Stater. She batted .411 with 12 home runs and 33 RBI as a freshman before improving to .418 with nine home runs and 34 RBI as a sophomore.
Gold’s older brother Luke was an All-ACC baseball infielder at Boston College before being selected in the fifth round of the 2022 MLB Draft by the Detroit Tigers.