How Clemson softball leader’s small-town upbringing shaped her rise to stardom
Each tale told of Valerie Cagle has a bit of larger-than-life tinge to it. Nothing outlandish, just little details that make her story sound like ... well, more of a story.
Cagle hardly played high school softball, but she did have extra time to practice the game because she didn’t watch TV or have a cell phone as a kid, according to her travel ball coach.
One reason she committed to the Clemson Tigers was because she wanted to hit the first home run in a brand new program’s brand new stadium (which she did).
When she first practiced on a far-too-small Clemson field, softball teammate Cammy Pereira remembered Cagle sending 10 or so balls over a temporary fence and into the initial wall of a then-unfinished stadium.
“We realized that we probably weren’t gonna be able to do BP anymore, because we’re gonna start breaking the windows,” Pereira said.
And why does Cagle wear No. 72? Maybe a player she looked up to — or something sentimental?
“Because that’s the speed I wanted to hit,” she said.
The 2021 season overall for the Yorktown, Virginia product and her team has been storybook in the more conventional way. In its first full season, the Clemson softball program went 42-6 and won the ACC regular-season title. Cagle was the squad’s top hitter and ace pitcher. She was named conference freshman and player of the year, and she lodged her name firmly in discussion for national player of the year awards.
A few years ago, she committed to a team that was more vision than reality, waiting for a full squad to actually come together. Last year, in the Tigers’ inaugural season, she saw that first year cut short by the COVID pandemic.
“It’s not surprising that it happened,” Cagle said of Clemson’s quick success. “But the fact it’s been able to happen so quickly is just very exciting.”
A non-traditional path
Hanover Hornets travel softball coach Chad Radcliffe joked that he’d like to take some credit for developing Cagle into the fearsome college player she’s become. But in truth, her ability was obvious when she became a part of the organization at age 14.
“She had all the gifts,” Radcliffe said. “Very calm and was just really that five-tool player. And then on top of that, she could pitch.”
She was a guest player with the Hornets that summer, and by the end of the season there was no doubt they hoped she’d stay around.
Travel softball has taken on an important role in the sports development process, often outstripping high school ball. It allows players to face better competition and concentrates talent at events where college coaches can more easily recruit.
That world was especially important for Cagle’s journey because she didn’t play high school ball at all.
Cagle’s family home-schooled her, and her softball experience was primarily sharpened through the travel circuit.
“It’s normal to me,” Cagle said. “I don’t know any different. I was home-schooled my whole life, so I can’t really compare it to any other experience. But I wouldn’t change it for anything. It was right for me.”
Beyond being raised in a strong religious household, she also wasn’t surrounded by some of the technological trappings her teammates might take for granted. Radcliffe said Cagle grew up in a home without TV — and rarely used a cell phone.
She got through a condensed day of high school work and then, without a team to practice with, went to work on her own.
“She would just go out and hit balls,” Radcliffe said. “And then when her dad came home, they would go hit balls. So you know she really just kind of grew up ... it’s almost like the movie ‘Hoosiers.’ ”
The kids in that 1980s film were either at school, working or the farm or shooting a basketball.
“She was either doing schoolwork or doing something around softball because she didn’t have the other distractions,” Radcliffe said.
Loyalty and the Clemson opportunity
The world of travel softball is one fraught with constant motion.
Players want to move up a level. Players want to play with different friends. Parents want to showcase kids in different settings.
Radcliffe remembered other travel programs looking to pull Cagle away from the Hornets. But her loyalty kept her with that group.
And a level of loyalty might have prevented her from becoming a Tiger, had some plans fallen into place.
“I was previously committed before here,” Cagle said. “And then there was a coaching change the summer before my senior year. But coach (Kyle) Jamieson had watched me play when he was coaching at Furman. So after I reopened my recruitment, he called me and I ended up coming to a camp here and just the vision that the whole coaching staff was selling and the opportunity to be a part of something like a brand new program like Clemson was just really, really hard to pass up on.”
That previous school was Delaware, which secured her commitment early in high school, something somewhat common in diamond sports. The coaches there built a relationship early, before Cagle’s game fully developed.
Radcliffe remembered opposing travel coaches remarking on Cagle’s talent and then asking — why Delaware? She felt comfortable with then-coach John Seneca. He was fired after the 2018 season, and Cagle started fielding offers and interest.
Clemson was competing with the likes of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Indiana and other programs, and she had the attention of Tigers coach John Rittman.
“Our first interaction with her was at a camp here at Clemson,” Rittman said. “And watching her hit and field, and we knew she was pretty special player, and then were able to ... watch her play a travel ball tournament
“So you know we knew she was special.“
And the feelings were reciprocated.
On a visit to Clemson, Cagle got that feeling. It’s something many parents know, the one where a child sees a college and it just clicks. The place feels right, and that’s the spot where they will matriculate.
Cagle still had a few more visits as part of a trip with a few travel ball tournaments, when she called Radcliffe after seeing the Tigers.
“She called me on the way down to Atlanta and said, ‘Hey, I’m gonna commit to Clemson,’ ” Radcliffe said.
He thought she could play anywhere in the country and wanted to make sure she wasn’t jumping into a decision too quickly. And so he asked her — why Clemson?
She said, according to Radcliffe: “ ‘Just feels like home,’ and her next comment was, ‘and I want to be the first person to ever hit a home run out of the new stadium.’ ... And by the way, she was the first Clemson Tiger to hit a home run out of the stadium.”
The second-year sensation
Thumbing through the statistics, it’s hard to find what doesn’t jump off the page next to the name “Cagle.”
You could look at the .422 batting average, the 17 home runs in 49 games, or to the fact she’s only struck out 23 times, three fewer than walks she’s drawn. Or you could look at a 1.04 ERA in the circle, a stat that pairs with a 27-5 record, 257 strikeouts in less than 202 innings or 11 shutouts and 26 complete games in 30 starts.
The seeds were there a season prior, when she hit 10 home runs in a 27-game abbreviated COVID season. But the player who was once separated from distractions such as TV and cell phones is now a national-level star.
In short, it’s been quite a turnaround.
“Last year, the whole team had a good start, so you kind of know the foundation of what you’re going to be able to build on,” Cagle said. “None of us have ever experienced a full college season and this one still isn’t completely normal. So you just don’t know what to expect.”
Rittman knew this kind of step for Cagle might be possible, especially with getting her feet wet last season. Radcliffe knew she had the ability to be something special on the college level, but he wasn’t sure it would manifest quite so quickly.
Her teammates, going all the way back to those batting practice sessions hitting softballs off a wall, had a sense.
“I realized, OK, this girl’s pretty special and pretty good,” Pereira said. “Since then we’ve had a lot of good times and I really love seeing her develop as a player and as a person.”
Radcliffe said he’d heard from coaches that Cagle has also started to take some of the personal steps that come with going to a larger campus. She was always a quietly confident personality, not speaking too loudly. (After inning-ending strikeouts, there are almost no theatrics, just whipping off her mask into her glove.)
She came from a small town and a close family, and a campus of nearly 20,000 offers a chance to branch out.
Cagle this spring has also gained just a bit of celebrity on campus.
“I know some other people (whose daughters) go to Clemson, and their daughters will tell them that a Valerie Cagle sighting is exciting for the students,” Radcliffe said.
This week, her talents will be elevated to an even larger national stage.
The Tigers are in the NCAA tournament, a No. 2 seed this weekend in the Tuscaloosa Regional. Clemson’s record likely outpaces its seeding, as a smattering of canceled games cost them some strength of schedule value in the RPI.
The team has plenty of other pieces, young talent and transfers making up a squad that had never played games until last spring. The group will mostly be taking these new steps for the first time together, with Cagle being an integral part because of her place in the lineup and in the circle.
And much like the program overall, Cagle finds herself at a particular point of an all-too-common story. From the jump, they’re doing things far more quickly and precociously than outsiders have a right to expect. And for both program and star, this is still a very early chapter.
“I’m just glad she’s a Clemson Tiger,” Rittman said. “I think she’s just gonna get stronger and stronger. And unfortunately the other teams in the ACC have after this year have three more years to deal with her.”
Clemson in the NCAA softball tournament
At Tuscaloosa, Clemson won its first-ever NCAA tournament game Friday with an 8-0 victory over Troy in five innings. Valerie Cagle hit two of the team’s four home runs, and she struck out 10 of the 17 batters she faced in the circle in four shutout innings.
The Tigers (43-7) lost 6-0 Saturday to top regional seed Alabama and will be get a rematch with the Crimson Tide on Sunday, needing to win twice to advance.
This story was originally published May 18, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "How Clemson softball leader’s small-town upbringing shaped her rise to stardom."