By JOSHUA McKINNEY, Staff Writer
Cassie Valdez has a simple dream. She wants to play big-time college softball.
Valdez, a sophomore pitcher, third baseman and outfielder for the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Lady Chargers, is a rising star in Rio Grande Valley softball and is determined to reach her goal of pitching for a NCAA Division I softball team.
“I love pitching. I pitch with a passion every pitch,” she said. “It’s just fun to me, and I feel like I want to challenge myself, really work to where I want to be. I can do it. My parents support everything I do, all of the coaches I have experience with (support me).”
Coach Ray Cardenas thinks she has the attitude and work ethic to get to the sport’s highest levels.
“She’s got this determination in her. I guess it’s been instilled when she was little,” Cardenas said. “She has a dream that she wants to be able to pitch at a major university. She has that instilled in her, and she’s working toward that goal. She wants to be a pitcher at that college level. There’s basically not a day where she doesn’t train, whether that’s with us or her father or with other pitching coaches or hitting coaches.
“That girl is determined for that to happen for her. She understands that in order for that to happen, there’s a lot of work that has to be involved. I can’t say enough about her work ethic.”
Her drive leads to an intense style of play when she takes the field as a pitcher or when she’s at the plate. Clutch situations are Valdez’s favorite moments of the game.
That’s why she plays.
“It’s the intensity,” Valdez said. “The game’s where it’s 0-0 for five innings and you want to see who’s going to make the first mistake. It’s just really fun. I love it, play with a passion.”
Valdez received several honors after her freshman season, including District 32-6A newcomer of the year, All-Metro newcomer of the year and All-Valley freshman of the year.
Still, Valdez is able to keep her head and stay hungry for more success despite the early accolades.
Brownsville Veterans’ ace is shutting down batters this season, with 121 strikeouts and a 1.217 ERA in 69 innings of work. Valdez also leads the Lady Chargers (13-4, 2-0) with four home runs and 22 RBIs, and has a .521 batting average.
A strong start to the season comes from a second year of playing top-level softball for the Texas Bombers’ Gold 16-and-under team, a select softball team made up of some of Texas’ best players.
“That’s helped me a lot,” Valdez said. “We played showcases and really hard teams. That just helps me with pitching, to be smarter with the batters and how smart batters can be.”
Her coach says her key to success comes from a rare level of maturity at a young age.
“When we’re young and we have success, it’s hard to keep us motivated. That’s the amazing thing about her,” Cardenas said. “She’s motivated, regardless of how many strikeouts she has in the game or how many no-hitters or anything like. She stays focused and intense.
“She still sees the end result in front of her, and she understands that in order for her to get there (that) it doesn’t matter the night she pitched and how dominant she was, she still understands that she has a long way to go.”
Joshua McKinney covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @joshuabvherald.