UL softball pledge Sara Corbello recently got the surprise of her life after finding out she was Gatorade’s 2011 Louisiana Player of the Year.

The announcement was made last week by Gatorade in collaboration with ESPN RISE. Corbello just completed her junior season at Barbe High School in Lake Charles.

"It’s a great honor," Corbello said Tuesday night in an interview with The Daily Advertiser. "To know that I’ve been picked over so many other great athletes is an amazing feeling."

Corbello made the Class 5A all-state first team for the third straight season and was the Lake Charles American Press All-Area MVP for the second straight year as a junior. Known for her rise, curve, screwball and change-up, she went 26-2 with a 1.15 ERA and had 186 strikeouts in 146 innings this past season.

Offensively she was just as dangerous, hitting .400 with nine home runs as Barbe advanced to the Class 5A semifinals before falling to eventual state champion Hahnville. She is regarded as a quality hitter with tremendous upside as a pitcher at the next level.

Earlier in the spring Corbello committed to the Cajuns after also being pursued by Western Kentucky, McNeese State and Louisiana College. The earliest she can sign a binding national letter of intent is November 2011.

Corbello, who plays for the New Orleans Deja Vu Gold travel team, has posted a 70-19 record in her three prep seasons. Last year she was 23-7 to lead Barbe to the state semifinals before being eliminated by eventual state runner-up Hahnville. She logged a 21-10 record as a freshman to help Barbe make its first state tournament appearance since 1999 but lost to St. Thomas More in the championship game.

After being honored by Gatorade and ESPN RISE as the state’s top softball player, Corbello was sure to thank her teammates.

"My team is a huge part of me receiving this," Corbello said. "I wouldn’t be anywhere without them supporting me the way they do."

Current Cajuns pitcher Ashley Brignac was named the Gatorade Louisiana Player of the Year in her final two years (2006 and ’07) at John Curtis Christian. She was also the Gatorade National Player of the Year as a senior.

Ex-Mount Carmel pitcher Meghan Patterson, now pitching for LSU after also considering the Cajuns, was the Gatorade Louisiana Player of the Year in 2009 and ’10.