A lot of pitchers when they’re young and they’re good, they get burnt out,” Cagle said. “The biggest thing was just keep practicing. She worked hard to get better, but it was never a situation where she grew tired of the practice time it takes to become elite. Looking back on it now, Cagle is thankful that pitching didn’t come as natural to her. Valerie Cagle and Clemson softball begin NCAA Tournament play on Friday. So I don’t remember a time when I didn’t have it.”
“I remember being younger playing kickball with my brother, getting mad if I didn’t win,” Cagle said of her competitiveness. Hitting’s always been more of my thing than pitching was.”Ĭagle’s competitive spirit didn’t allow her to struggle on the mound for too long.Ĭagle is described by her teammates and coaches as a fierce competitor who hates losing more than she enjoys winning.Īs Jamieson says, “that’s who you want on the mound.” “I couldn’t make it through an inning or throw strikes. “Pitching I was not good at all until I was about 12,” she said. This is the way it is and I absolutely love it.” Slow starterĪs dominant as Valerie Cagle is now, her softball career actually got off to a bit of a slow start.Ĭagle first started playing softball at the age of 6, and while she pitched some, it wasn’t her strong suit. “I’ve never regretted for a second my decision to come here,” Cagle told. 3 seed Troy.Ĭagle had quite the journey from being homeschooled and committed elsewhere to starring for the Tigers, but she wouldn’t change anything about the way it played out. The Tigers begin play Friday afternoon against No. 2 seed in the Tuscaloosa Regional in the NCAA Tournament. She led Clemson to the ACC regular-season title and a No. In her redshirt freshman season, the Virginia native has been named the ACC Player of the Year and is a finalist for the National Player of the Year.
The following summer, he had an opportunity to land what turned out to be the perfect program starter in Cagle.įast forward three years and Cagle is an absolute star for the Tigers. In December of 2017, Jamieson went from being the head coach at Furman to an assistant for John Rittman’s brand new program at Clemson.
There were other players on the team Furman was recruiting, and he also wanted to be ready to throw his hat into the ring in the off-chance Cagle did decide to open up her recruitment at some point. Jamieson continued to do his due diligence in regards to Cagle, watching her Hanover Hornets travel ball team regularly. “Every time I’d see her I was like, ‘Man, she’s so good’ but she was committed to Delaware.” She was committed to Delaware,” Jamieson said. “When I was at Furman I always wanted her to come, but that wasn’t the type of school she was looking for. Jamieson soon found out Cagle was committed to Delaware and he had no shot to land the two-way player.
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