Lady Cajuns Softball – Who You Calling Cinderella?

If you tuned into last night’s super regional softball match up between Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns and the defending national champion Arizona State Sun Devils, you would have heard the ESPN experts gush over the Sun Devils’ stellar super regional home record. You would have heard the hype surrounding ASU sophomore pitcher Dallas Escobedo, and you would have heard about 2012  USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year  finalist Katelyn Boyd’s tremendous season. It seemed like the dominant ASU would have no problem knocking off the small mid-major school on their way to their latest Women’s College World Series run.

Suddenly though, things began to change. The bats for the quirky team from South Louisiana began to heat up and the mighty Escobedo showed chinks in her armor. With a fearless attitude and an aggressive swagger the underdog Cajuns began to dominate. David was felling Goliath. Benny the Jet was pickling with the Beast. Cinderella was arriving to the ball, and the children of Lafayette were dancing in the streets.

At least that’s the way they made it sound…

There is just one problem with the entire happy-go-lucky scenario. Since when are the Lady Cajuns Cinderella?

Granted, by a seeding system that would baffle even the finest rocket scientists NASA has to offer, the Cajuns came into the Tempe Super Regional as the 14 seed going up against the mighty 3 seed ASU, but the advantages for the Sun Devils end there. The Lady Cajuns have been nothing but dominant all year. Boasting regular season wins over fellow super regional qualifiers Michigan (10-7), Hofstra (5-4), and (ahem) ASU (9-2) the Cajun’s have proven over and over this year that they are an absolute national power in college softball.

When Cajun batters began to chew up the highly touted Escobedo it was no fluke. They’d done it before. As freshman Cajun pitcher Jordan Wallace was dominating ASU hitters Cajun fans were not surprised. Wallace only had the most prolific start to a career for a freshman pitcher in the history of the sport. The Cajuns are no joke.

With an absolutely terrifying one through nine lineup that includes the nation’s All-American RBI leader Christi Orgeron and a nine hole hitter batting over .400 the Cajuns lead the nation in a multitude of offensive categories. They can run, they can field, they can pitch, and they can hit. They’ve been to the WCWS before and they are by no means “just happy to be here”.

Maybe the experts didn’t do their homework. Maybe they were simply playing to the larger market team from the bigger conference. Whatever the reason it really doesn’t matter, because  the Cajuns are now one step closer to their goal.

The Cajuns are showing the nation what their longtime fans have known all along. This is one of the best softball teams in the country.

So national media, talk about our unique Cajun culture, talk about our unbelievably talented players, and talk about the mutual love and support shared between our players, coaching staff, and community, just please, save the glass slipper talk, because this Cajun team ain’t no Cinderella.