Indianapolis AlleyCats Home Opener
Article: Ryan Baker
Photos: SEDIII Productions
After a busy offseason, the Indianapolis AlleyCats finally get to kick off their 2026 season this Saturday at 6 p.m. EST against the Madison Radicals!
With Nathan Bussberg as head coach, fresh talent, and a reinvented gameday at Kuntz Stadium, Indy launches its campaign, aiming to energize fans and make a statement in a pivotal Central Division opener.
Historically, the AlleyCats have struggled against Madison, going 7-27 all-time. This season, they aim to reverse that trend and boost momentum with a strong season opener.
Indy will be missing several players for their season opener, including Elliot Hawkins, Xavier Payne, Jack Kempe, Isaiah Mason, Carson Chamberlain, and Cole Hyzer. Keegan North and Jonathan Mast are doubtful.
Meanwhile, Jake Felton, Kai Creed, Max Squires, James Pollard, and Nate Little debut in AlleyCat green, with Carter Hawkins, Cameron Brock, William Wettengel, and Jeremiah Branson returning after breaks.
Indy’s main challenge is team chemistry: new key players could create unpredictability. Fortunately, most have prior experience together, which should help stabilize their performance.
Brock, Hawkins, Wettengel, and Branson all played with one another in Indy in 2023 and 2024, while Little and Pollard were teammates in Philadelphia for four years. It has been a full year, and talents have developed, which should ease some of the shakiness going into game one.
“Miscommunications are inevitable,” Carter Hawkins said. “Bussberg has set us up for success in terms of facing adversity and adjusting in real time. We have all played at a high level before and know what kind of mental fortitude it takes to play through a tight game.”
Even with the inexperience of playing as a collective, many of these players have had a ton of success going against Madison. For example, Brock has averaged 4.1 goals per game against Madison since 2020 over eight games, Wettengel averages 1.7 blocks per game against them, Felton has scored an average of 6.6 times per game, and their captain, Seth Gudeman, has logged a block in every game against Madison over the last three years, including a five-block performance last year.
“My whole career in games I’ve been an underdog,” Little said. “Constantly grinding, giving everything I had. I can’t imagine how much it’s going to suck for teams like Madison to have to deal with talented players who don’t have to go out there and be labeled as “the guy.”
The biggest key, according to Little, for Indy to notch a mark in the win column this Saturday is to stay relentless, keep the energy high, and accept whatever happens while learning from it.
While those things are incredibly important, Bussberg's biggest focus for this game is simply, “Just putting the ball in the hoop more than the other team.”
Against their opponent, the Radicals will be without their best defensive player, Luke Marks, who amassed 22 blocks last season. That is a huge hit to the Madison defense, and something Bussberg will surely take advantage of throughout the course of the game.
“The offensive group’s head is in a great place,” Hawkins stated. "It’s extremely exciting to get out in the field and see what we can do together. It feels like every practice, someone throws a throw you didn’t know they had or makes a cut that is extremely effective.”
Look for Carter Hawkins to play a big role on the offensive side, something that Bussberg emphasized, with guys like Felton, Brock, and Jack Galle complementing him on a consistent basis.
“The role I usually play isn’t super flashy,” said Hawkins. “It’s not always full of highlights and often is some of the background work that needs to be done to create space and facilitate flow. Being in the media and on the front page is cool, but I’d much rather stack wins.”
On the other side of the disc, one of the biggest players to look for is Little, who will get his first taste, outside of Pittsburgh, of Central Division frisbee.
When asking Little what changes he expects to see, he said this: “How the disc will flow. It seems that teams in the Central, especially Madison, will always take the big play with little metacognition. In the East, you’re used to a flow that’s hard to dictate since a majority is talented enough to fast break or chilly within the moment.”
Regardless of the outcome, there will be more narratives about this team. They lose, and people will say this team is all names and hype. If they win by a couple of points, they will be told they should’ve done better. If they dominate, people will put them in Championship Weekend contender conversations.
Despite outside expectations and drama, Bussberg has grounded the team in focusing on self-control and improvement. Indy faces challenges, but promising highlights could mark a new era. The season begins here.
To watch this game this Saturday, go here!
To buy tickets to the home opener, go here!
