When senior pitcher Taylor Tinsley’s parents flew out to Los Angeles from Georgia for a one-day, double-header against California, senior infielder Jordan Woolery said she started to wonder if it might mean something special was coming their way.

Meanwhile, it started to click for Megan Grant when she noticed the added camera presence in the final inning, the senior utility said.

UCLA softball’s Tinsley, Woolery and Grant became the first trio to receive Golden Tickets to the Athletes Unlimited Softball League on Saturday.

“We’ve been here together the last four years, so being here four years together, and then also extending our careers together, even if we’re on different teams, just going on the same journey, it’s really special,” Woolery said. “It’s a really special senior class, and it’s awesome for all of us.”

A Golden Ticket represents a college athlete officially being drafted to the AUSL, while not to a specific team, and it is presented by prominent softball and sports legends.

In this case, broadcaster Elle Duncan and UCLA alumni Natasha Watley and Jen Schroeder did the honors.

“For me, it’s the emotional aspect of actually seeing a dream come to life,” Schroeder said. “You give out that golden ticket, and you watch someone’s face change, you watch their emotion, and you are literally watching a dream come true. It’s the coolest thing to be just such a small part of that.”

Players will be drafted to their respective teams May 4.

The presentation of the Golden Ticket is a player’s opportunity to celebrate their goal of becoming a professional with the teammates and coaches who have made it possible.

Ahead of the AUSL’s second season, Duncan said every Golden Ticket is an exciting moment for softball as a whole.

“I even think the presentation, alone, of the Golden Ticket is really emblematic of where we’re at. Because in years past, you would have informed them via email or a phone call,” Duncan said. “In a perfect world, one day we have this big, giant televised draft, but doing this with their teammates, at their home base, with their families here, I think the entire idea of the Golden Ticket really speaks to where we’re at in the progress that we’re seeing.”

After the Bruins got their second win of the day, Duncan handed the first Golden Ticket to Grant. Then Watley – entering the field through the outfield wall with her picture on it – presented the second ticket of the day to Woolery.

Woolery and Grant each sit in the nation’s top five in home runs and RBIs. After a 10-RBI day Saturday, Woolery leads the nation with 100 RBIs – becoming just the fifth player in NCAA history to hit that milestone – while Grant is second in the country with 31 home runs.

The duo also became the first in NCAA history to both have 30 home runs in a single season.

There was little doubt that Grant and Woolery were about to become the 12th and 13th Golden Tickets, respectively. AUSL has handed out two tickets to members of the same team a couple of times before, though never a third. But then, Watley and Duncan cued up yet another softball legend to walk out – Schroeder.

“That felt like the longest walk of my entire life, because everybody knows it’s Taylor, but yet there’s this huge surprise,” Schroeder said. “Before that moment, you’d have to ask her if she thought she was going to hear her name called today. So then, gate opens, it’s evident she’s getting one, but she has to wait for me to walk with a Golden Ticket in my hand. So I just kept waving it. That’s all I could do.”

The AUSL is entering its second full season, and this year’s teams will have home cities.

Additionally, there are two more franchises in the mix for this season, with teams playing in Carolina, Chicago, Portland, Oklahoma City, Texas and Utah.

The league has been handing out tickets for this summer’s season since March, beginning with South Carolina pitcher NiJaree Canady. In the first year of the AUSL, it handed out eight tickets. Already, 14 tickets have been handed out, with the league planning to distribute 17 total.

Grant, Woolery and Tinsley will join nine former Bruins – the most from one school – in the league this summer, with the AUSL season beginning on June 9th, just days after the conclusion of the Women’s College World Series.

“It’s just really overwhelming,” said UCLA associate head coach and Utah Talons general manager Lisa Fernandez. “The feeling is indescribable in terms of pride and joy. You see the struggles, and you see the successes, and you see the things that these athletes go through, from their freshman year. To now see them flourish, words can’t really describe.”