Loyola University Chicago Athletics

Ali Brems joined Loyola University Chicago in July 2025 as an assistant coach for Ramblers softball, and alongside head coach Alicia Abbott and assistant coach Alaynie Woollard, helped coach the team to a historic 2026 season, highlighted by the program's first-ever Atlantic 10 Regular Season Championship. It marked the program's eighth overall regular season championship and fifth outright.

The Ramblers earned the No. 1 tournament seed and eventually a runners-up finish. Loyola posted a 28-24 overall record and went 18-6 in conference play, matching the most single-season league wins since 2023. Loyola swept four of its conference series (Dayton, Saint Joseph's, Rhode Island and George Washington), three of which came on the road.

After clinching the regular season, the Ramblers received a first round bye in the A-10 tournament, where they fell to the Fordham Rams in the opener and later in the championship game. Loyola defeated Saint Joseph's to stay alive then erased a 7-0 deficit against Dayton and advanced to the championship round on sophomore Kayci Rigby's walk-off home run. The Ramblers rematched an undefeated Rams squad and fell 7-4 in a heartbreaker finale. Four Ramblers earned All-Championship Team honors: freshman pitcher Anna Kiel, senior outfielder Sierra Sass, redshirt sophomore infielder Liz Sedakis and sophomore outfielder Averi Vander Woude. 

As the primary hitting coach, Brems coached the Ramblers' offense to a .263 batting average and a .358 slugging percentage. Lesnicki led Loyola at the plate, batting .374, and was No. 1 in hits (58) and doubles (11). 

Brems came to Rogers Park after four seasons as the assistant coach at Lindenwood University. She led the Lions' pitching staff to a team ERA of 3.31, good for third in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC), and coached standout pitcher Avery Wapp, a Second Team All-OVC selection who finished the 2025 season with a 2.40 ERA.  

The Kenosha, Wis. native's impact at Lindenwood was immediate and extended beyond the circle, helping the Lions to the program's first-ever NCAA Division II Midwest Regional bid in her inaugural season.  

Prior to Lindenwood, Brems served as an assistant coach at Truman State University, where she specialized in pitching and also aided in outfield instruction and recruiting. She also spent six years at nearby Lewis University as both a student-athlete and a graduate assistant.  

Brems was a dual threat on the diamond, doing damage in both the box and inside the circle. She earned Second Team All-GLVC East Division for her pitching efforts in 2013 and was a second team selection one year later as a utility player.  

A graduate of the prestigious NCAA Women Coaches Academy (2018), Brems received her Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science and Psychology from Lewis and holds a Master of Arts in Leadership from Truman State.