Before Tuesday night, the last time fans in Tuscaloosa had seen Montana Fouts toe the rubber at Rhoads Stadium was on May 28, 2023.

Seventeen days after sustaining a torn anterior cruciate ligament, Fouts worked 3.2 innings of relief as Alabama defeated Northwestern 3-2 in the deciding game of an NCAA Super Regional to send the Crimson Tide to the Women’s College World Series.

This week, Fontana returned to her alma mater with the Talons of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League. The Talons finished their regular-season schedule with games against the Volts on Tuesday and Wednesday and will play the Bandits in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League Championship, a best-of-three series starting on Saturday.

“Yesterday, I would say I was pretty overwhelmed,” Fouts told Softball America after Wednesday night’s game, “but it was like an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. I feel like just being here just a lot of memories came back. Like, they talk about the sights, the smells, all of the things, and I feel like all of that kind of just hit me in the best way possible because I was just really thankful to have all those memories.

“But then now to be able to recreate them with this team because I’m just so fortunate to love each and every one of them, too, so it’s just being able to have your worlds collide and experience the gratitude. But then now we’re on a mission, and I’m excited to do it.”

The AUSL Championship starts at 2 p.m. CDT Saturday. Game 2 is set for 1 p.m. Sunday. If needed, Game 3 will be played at 6 p.m. Monday. ESPN will televise the first two games of the championship series from Rhoads Stadium, with ESPN2 getting the potential telecast on Monday.

Fouts will start in the circle for the Talons in Sunday’s game.

Saturday’s game is sold out, but tickets are available online for the games on Sunday and Monday.

The first-year softball circuit has four teams – the Bandits, Blaze, Talons and Volts – that barnstormed through 24 games apiece in the league’s first season. The schedule included stops in Rosemont, Illinois; Wichita, Kansas; Sulphur, Louisiana; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Norman, Oklahoma; Omaha, Nebraska; Round Rock, Texas; Seattle and Salt Lake City as well as Tuscaloosa.

The Talons had the best regular-season record at 18-6, with the Bandits qualifying for the championship series at 15-9.

Bandits shortstop Skylar Wallace played at Alabama in the 2019 and 2020 seasons, then played for Florida for three seasons.

Fouts completed the regular season with a 3-2 record in 11 games, including five starts. She posted a 2.71 ERA in 31 innings. Fouts struck out 26 while yielding 27 hits and nine walks. The Talons put Fouts on the injured list on June 20, and she returned to the active roster on July 13.

On Tuesday, Fouts got the pitching win by working the first four innings of the Talons’ 6-4 victory. She struck out six and yielded three runs on four hits and two walks.

On Wednesday, the Volts turned around the score for a 6-4 victory over the Talons on the final night of the regular season. Fouts struck out the side in the top of the seventh in a relief appearance, then signed autographs for what amounted to a reunion of her fan club, including girls at least 2 years older than the last time they saw her pitch.

“They like show me pictures from us, like, two years ago,” Fouts said, “and it’s like all of them grow like this much, and I’m like, ‘This isn’t fair.’ But it’s truly an honor to be here and be able to play. And I mean, they’re the future, like, being able to come here and support us as Talons and not just Alabama. I feel like that’s just going to help the sport grow, and I’ve met several girls tonight that told me that they want to be out here one day, and that’s exactly what I was doing when I was that age. So I just think the sport’s growing, and it’s beautiful.”

A four-time All-American selection by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association – first team in 2021 and 2023 and second team in 2019 and 2022 — at Alabama, Fouts posted a 100-32 record with a 1.66 earned-run average in 160 games. In 852.2 innings, Fouts struck out 1,181 with the Crimson Tide.

The NFCA Pitcher of the Year in 2021, Fouts threw a no-hitter against UCLA in the Women’s College World Series that season.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.