This post was updated May 4 at 8:05 p.m.
Three Bruin seniors found out where they will be headed after they graduate.
And two will be sticking together.
UCLA softball seniors utility Megan Grant, pitcher Taylor Tinsley and infielder Jordan Woolery have all been officially drafted to teams in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League, and will join the league for its second season, which is slated to begin after the Women’s College World Series in June.
The “Bruin Bombers,” Grant and Woolery, were both selected in the first round of the three-round draft.
Grant went No. 4 overall to the Portland Cascade, one of the league’s two expansion teams. She was the first non-pitcher taken off the board.
Her 35 home runs this season rank second in the NCAA. She has also recorded 75 runs, 63 hits and 60 walks this season.
Next came Woolery, who went to the reigning champion Utah Talons at sixth overall.
Woolery leads the nation in RBIs with 106 and is just the fifth player in NCAA softball history to cross the 100-RBI mark. She also boasts 33 home runs this season, joining Grant to become the first players to each surpass 30 home runs in the same season for the same school.
The Talons also selected Tinsley in the second round at No. 12 overall. Tinsley has thrown 168.2 innings pitched this season, for a 2.91 ERA, allowing 163 hits and 87 runs, while playing in the bulk of the Bruins’ competitive innings this season.
Woolery and Tinsley join three former Bruins on the Talons’ roster in Jadelyn Allchin, Megan Faraimo and Sharlize Palacios.
Talons general manager Lisa Fernandez – who is also UCLA’s associate head coach – selected both Woolery and Tinsley.
Fernandez said in April that the drafting process has been difficult since she worked so closely with the seniors.
“It’s been stressful, and I’ve had to make some choices,” Fernandez said. “It’s like picking between your children. How do you do that, right?”
But at the end of the day, Fernandez said it is about these three players making the league overall, rather than playing for her team.
“I’ve had many a sleepless night,” Fernandez said. “But overall, the most important thing to me is that they’re playing professionally. Trust me, I wish I could get them all.”
With the Talons having just two picks, Fernandez got as many of the Bruins as she could.
Woolery and Tinsley said they hoped to be drafted together after receiving Golden Tickets.
“I don’t know what the odds are, but if we were all on the same team, by the grace of God, that would be amazing. I would love it because I honestly can’t even imagine not being on a team with either of them, and especially Jordan, too, because we’re roommates, and we’ve been roommates since sophomore year, so we have another bond outside of this,” Tinsley said in April. “But pitching (against) them, that’s another story. I don’t want any part of it.”
For Grant, having to hit against Tinsley will be an adjustment.
“Hitting off her all the time in practice in the fall was brutal,” Grant said. “Getting acclimated to that (will be hard).”
While all three Bruins knew they had been drafted to the AUSL after receiving Golden Tickets earlier this season, the draft order and their new teams were officially revealed Monday evening.
[Related: AUSL Golden Tickets send 3 Bruin athletes to professional softball]
After handing out the Golden Tickets to the senior trio in April, former Bruin Jen Schroeder said the opportunity to play professional softball after college is a huge deal.
“This moment changes the rest of their lives. You’re a senior, you have no idea what you’re going to do in a month and a half, and now you know that you have a chance to play professional softball,” Schroeder said. “As a little girl, that was my dream. I wanted to play professional softball. I wanted to be an Olympian. I didn’t get to do those things. To be able to hand an opportunity over in the shape of a Golden Ticket, and know that her life is forever changed because she was awarded one of those, is probably the most incredible honor of my life.”
Now Tinsley, Woolery and Grant have confirmed which cities they’ll compete in.
And once they are officially Bruin alumni, Woolery, Tinsley and Grant are likely to join fellow AUSL and former Bruin players in attending multiple UCLA games to support their former teammates.
Allchin, Maya Brady, Palacios and more Westwood alumni have cheered on the Bruins throughout the 2026 campaign.
“I can’t wait to hang out with them more post-softball, post-my-years-here. It’s going to be so fun,” Woolery said. “You saw them in the front row chirping a little bit too, so it’s cool. They bring good energy. I love having them around.”
