Austin Outlaws Season Preview: Lucky 13 or Fallen dynasty?

Author: Riley Hodder

Whatever you were expecting from the 2025 Austin Outlaws, I bet it wasn’t this.

For a long time, the Austin Outlaws were synonymous with champions. Five championship titles, three back-to-back. They’d never failed to make it to the finals. They were an opponent that teams dreaded, a franchise that leveled athleticism and strategy to win games.

And now…they have 13 players.

It’s hard for anyone who was around for the Outlaws’ dynasty to confidently count out this team, but with only 13 on the main roster, it’s pretty hard to have high expectations. Will the Outlaws come out into this season, guns blazing, and become the definition of “small but mighty?” Or will the dynasty finally fall flat? 

Last Season

The 2024 season for the Austin Outlaws was a lesson in managing expectations. They were defending champions, ushering in a new era of younger players that could either push the team to new heights, or hold them back. But they had elite UTSA chaser/seeker Jay Stewart, the 2023 USQ Champion and 2024 USQ finalist, a gain that most thought would make Austin unstoppable.

And then they lost to the Legends, formerly of League City, now of Houston, in their season debut.

Just what happened to Austin in that game has been the subject of many conversations in the Quadball community, no doubt. But it’s undeniable that the community was shocked. It only took the Legends 23 minutes to take Austin out in their first game, and though the Outlaws managed to come out of the series with a game, all three of the series were hard fought. Just like that, the sky-high expectations for the season came crashing down. Heads turned to other franchises. Suddenly, if you were betting on the Outlaws, it was a hot-take.

Though the Outlaws started out the season on a low point, they managed to make it back to a good place come August. They had 3-0’d the Kansas City Stampede and New Orleans Curse, series that had become must-wins and must-watches for the Outlaws when they had always been boring before. And they rounded out their season with a 2-1 win against the San Antonio Soldados, proving that they could, in fact, win close games.

But when they headed North for the Benepe Cup, their results fell flat. In a highly competitive South Division, it was impressive to say that Austin had avoided the play-in. Expectations for the Outlaws were finally high again. They had a path to victory, and Austin fans could see the dream: the Outlaws in the finals, and somehow they’d be the underdogs everyone was rooting for against the big-bad-New-York-Titans.

Yeah, that didn’t happen. Their season ended in a 2-1 series against Boston in the first round of Champs. They went home, and many began to wonder the exact same question this writer is challenged with now: is the dynasty over, or was 2024 a fluke?

2025 Roster Moves

Returning:

Ian Crowe (Chaser) (Texas State)

Bradley Himes (Beater) (Texas Hill Country Heat)

Ella Jordan (Utility) (University of Texas)

Alex Vega (Chaser) (Texas Copperheads)

New:

Angel Avina (Beater)

Peter Lawrence (Keeper, from Boston Forge) (BOSNY Bearsharks)

Aaron Oehler (Beater, from Cleveland Riff)

Vivian Rost-Nasshan (Beater) (RPI)

Shawnee Vaughn (Beater)

Nico Salinas (Chaser)

Cyrus Sellers (Chaser) (Baylor Quadball)

Isaac Sueltenfuss (Chaser, from San Antonio Soldados)

Jayden Z-T (Chaser, from San Antonio Soldados)

Notable Losses:

Andrew Axtell

Bailee Fields

Kyzer Polzin

Kasye Bevers

Jackson Johnson

Jay Stewart

John Alvarez

Jenna Adams-Tracy

Jenna Bollweg

Mell Kite

Theron Ratliff

Wyatt Ross

Daniel Sialm

Will Spencer

Cameron Castilaw

Brandy Gomez

Maya Hinebaugh

Natalie Kenyon

Nate McCall

Cameron Ogilvie

Trenton Paskero

Julie Picasso

Sammy Garza

Louis Sanchez

Pierce Wilson

The Season at a Glance

The Outlaws are blessed with a well-paced season, which is hard not to get when one of your opponents drops out of the competition. They’ll make their debut and show us what their lucky 13 are made of in week 3, June 21, against the Stampede. In years past, the Stampede have had it hardest amongst the South teams. But this year, they’re 29 strong, and Austin will have to take their 13 on the long journey to KC for the series. Season openers are all about question marks, and if the Outlaws want to stand a chance of winning this series, they’re going to have to answer them fast. Who will be their dominant beater pair? Who will be their playmaker? What kind of team are they looking to be? We’ll just have to wait and see.

The Outlaws will face the Legends July 26 in what would’ve been the South superseries if New Orleans were active. We’ll see if Houston will be able to make a repeat of last year, though the repeat wouldn’t be as shocking with only 13 people on the Outlaws’ roster. However, Houston has lost a few of their key players, and might still be working on establishing their identity. The Outlaws will have to capitalize if they want a chance to beat the Legends and put them into contention to skip the play-in bracket.

In the final week of the regular season, Austin will take on their division rivals: the Soldados. The two teams have historically shared rosters, swapping players from season to season, and Austin will have to go up against Outlaws of the past as they prepare for their inevitable Benepe Cup run. I’m not going to lie, this Soldados squad is kind of elite, and if Austin wants a chance at taking a game off of them, they’re going to have to play at the highest level. Luckily, the Outlaws will face their toughest opponents latest in the season, so if they work hard to establish their identity and figure out a strategy that works for them, they might have a shot to take San Antonio down a peg.

Overall Prediction: 2-7

Season Potentials

Everyone in Quadball who isn’t from the state of Texas knows what it’s like to play on a small team. It’s frustrating, exhausting and can really kill morale. That means that Austin is going to have to focus on survival, and make the most of this summer.

Players shouldn’t have to be fighting for playing time with only 13, which means that the younger Outlaws are going to get a ton of minutes and development. Austin needs to capitalize on that opportunity so they can make sure that their new guard is making the most of the experience, taking as much away from it as possible, so they can support the Outlaws of the future.

With an automatic bid to Champs in August, the Outlaws’ regular season is relatively stress-free. They need to focus on building a core identity for their offense and defense, deciding what team they want to be, what goals they want to have for the season. Are they going for wins, or are they going to mine as much data as they can from every play, every game, every series? My suggestion to the Outlaws: go for the latter.

Why They Will

If you’ve only got 13, this really isn’t a bad 13. The Outlaws have a number of key players on their roster that should be able to support their newer additions in developing a team that can hang with the best of them.

First up is new Head Coach Ella Jordan. She was one of the top scorers for the Outlaws in 2024, and she’s going to have to use every ounce of her knowledge on-and-off the pitch to help the Outlaws succeed. She’ll be bringing a wealth of experience, something that supported UT in their runners-up finish at 2025 USQ Nationals. You’ll likely see the University of Texas chaser getting mad minutes and mad goals.

Alright, alright, I’ll address the elephant in the room: Peter Lawrence has put down their hammer and picked up their pistols. The former Forge member is now an Outlaw. I cannot understate how big of a gain this is. They add almost as much experience as they do height to the Austin roster. When Lawrence is on the field, expect most of Austin’s offense to run through them. It is interesting to see that the Outlaws have listed Lawrence as a keeper when they’re historically known for their talent on the hoops, but it’ll be interesting to see the talented player take on the new challenge.

Another out-of-region transfer comes in the form of beater Aaron Oehler from the Cleveland Riff. Oehler led the Riff beater corps in plus/minus for anyone who played over 30 drives. While the Riff haven’t made Champs in a minute, expect Oehler to be one of those directing the Outlaws when on pitch.

Another name that should be of huge impact will be Ian Crowe, a Texas State chaser that’s returning for another season on the Outlaws. While he didn’t get many minutes in the past, expect that to change this year (hard not to). He will likely help smooth the transition from last season to this one for the Outlaws, and will be a key point for Austin to rely on on both sides of the pitch.

Why They Won’t

It’s 13 players.

I’m just being honest. Despite the talent and the experience that these 13 bring, I guarantee that there are 13 players on all of the teams they will face that bring the same. The difference is that the Stampede, the Legends and the Soldados all have more than just 13. That’s a weakness, a big one, and the sooner the Outlaws accept that and decide what they’re going to do about it, the sooner they’ll be able to identify what a successful season looks like for them.

While this is a good 13, there are a few flaws. First off, the Outlaws have only one returning beater: Bradley Himes. While Himes has experience, talent and one hell of an arm, it’s hard to carry a beater corps on your back. And Himes will have to do that and more if they want the Outlaws to be successful this season.

There are a number of younger players on this roster that will get the opportunity to play an extreme amount of minutes against high-level opponents both in the regular season and at Champs. The Outlaws need to focus on getting these people good minutes. It’s hard to learn a ton when you’re getting repeatedly fast-breaked on. If the Outlaws want these players to develop, they’ll put them on lines with people who can help them actually make the most out of the experience.

Despite the challenges that having a short roster presents, this Outlaws team has the chance for a successful season. They just have to define what their goals are. If their goal is to bring home another Championship, then they’ll probably miss the shot. But if their goal is to have a fun time playing some insane Quadball, all while getting their younger corps minutes and growth, then there’s nothing that stands in their way.