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Arizona softball: Dino the Dinosaur an integral part of the Wildcats' run

Because we all need a stuffed animal to guide us through life

By Jason Bartel
@Dinodathug911

College softball is a whole different beast. To the casual viewer that only tunes in during the postseason, you might think that the girls are crazy with all the stuff going on in a dugout during a game.

When tuning in to see the Arizona Wildcats advance to the Super Regionals this past weekend, fans may have noticed a lot of crazy props in the Wildcat dugout.

And while there's a lot of them these days, the original one is still the one that carries the most weight.

Dino the Dinosaur.

"Dino's our rock," said first baseman Hallie Wilson. "As much as he's a stuffed animal, he's what reminds us that it's a game. It's a freaking dinosaur, but we love him."

"He was our first," added Mo Mercado. "The other ones are just bonus props. As we go along we'll probably get more."

Based on Dino's Twitter account, he became part of the Wildcat family on February 14th this year, the second weekend of the season.

"I think we found him somewhere," said senior pitcher Shelby Babcock. "We just liked it, and came up with the name Dino, and he's been our mascot the whole year. And then we made him a Twitter account."

And he's all decked out now. Check out the evolution of Dino this year:

"He's been our inspiration," continued Babcock. "He's just been our rock."

Dino will continue to be that rock as he'll make the trip with the Wildcats out to Lafayette on Wednesday for the games on Friday and Saturday.

But seriously, we all need a little red dinosaur in our lives. So give the little guy a follow on Twitter, and maybe he'll inspire you the same way he's inspired this group of players.

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