BROWNSVILLE — Brownsville native Cassandra Valdez told her mother, Jenny Valdez, before her career-defining senior season at Our Lady of the Lake that she would be “snatching souls.”
The collegiate pitcher snatched a lot of them. She compiled a 30-1 record on the mound, racking up multiple individual accolades as she helped the Saints capture an NAIA national softball title in late May. Cassandra Valdez now will embark on a professional career with Coastal Bend Tidal Wave of the Women’s Professional Fastpitch league.
The Saints dominated NAIA softball this season, going 57-3 and picking up a 2-0 win over Jessup University in the NAIA World Series, with Valdez throwing a four-hit shutout.
Valdez, the guest speaker at the RGVSports.com All-Valley Sports Banquet on Friday, picked up the NAIA World Series MVP award, was named best pitcher for the NAIA and earned a spot on the NAIA’s All-American first team for the second straight season. She was an All-American honorable mention in 2022.
Valdez spoke to the media and the community last Friday at Brownsville Veterans Memorial High School, where she shined as the best female athlete in the Valley from the Class of 2018. Valdez earned a scholarship to UTSA before moving to Texas State and then finishing her college career at OLLU.
She admitted she was close to hanging up the cleats prior to joining OLLU, but her mother was doing work behind the scenes and reached out to another former Valley standout, Joanna Gonzalez, who at the time was catching for OLLU after playing at San Benito.
“I took a visit to OLLU, and I felt like it was home,” Valdez said. “I prayed to God about it. I put the OLLU hat on, and it felt right. Three years later we win a national championship and I am so glad that God led me there. I had to go through some things to get to OLLU, but everything happens for a reason.”
Valdez thanked her mother for helping her out of her comfort zone and making those moves to help her go to OLLU, and also her father, who instilled hard-working values that pushed her through the tough times in the sport.
“I am just one woman, one testament for many of the girls — whether you are from the Valley or not — just work for everything you want, and playing pro was not a dream of mine until three years ago,” Valdez said.
Valdez led the NAIA with a 0.53 ERA and with 286 strikeouts. She also had the most wins and had the sixth-most home runs at the plate with 15 to show off her abilities to pitch and hit. Valdez also was a three-time conference pitcher of the year and a two-time conference player of the year.
The Coastal Bend Tidal Wave begin their season June 20 with their home opener set for June 27 at Fairground Field in Robstown.
“This is a great league, there are so many good players in this league and I am so excited to be a part of it while representing the NAIA and the Valley,” Valdez said.
