Valerie Cagle

Personal: Cagle is the daughter of Mark and Maria Cagle. She has earned her bachelor’s degree in health science and is currently working towards her master’s degree in human resource development.

2024 Championship Season: Cagle was one of 15 players selected in the 2024 Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball College Draft for the 2024 Championship Season. 

International Experience: Cagle was named to Team USA roster for the 2024 Japan All-Star Series. She also competed for Team USA in the 2023 Japan All-Star Series, where she hit .333 (4-for-12) with a home run and three runs batted in. Cagle led Team USA to a Gold medal at the 2021 Junior Women’s World Championship, tallying 20 strikeouts with just eight hits allowed over 12.1 innings. Moreover, she collected five hits at the plate with two runs scored. Additionally, Cagle won a Gold medal at the 2021 Junior Pan American Games after registering 28 hits over 13.0 innings with just three hits allowed. She batted .556 (5-for-9) with three home runs and 10 runs batted in.

At Clemson: Cagle was an outstanding two-way player at Clemson. She appeared in 243 games over five seasons from 2020-24. Cagle fashioned a .379 career batting average with 66 home runs and 224 runs batted in. She tallied 288 base hits while scoring 180 career runs and also compiled an 86-37 career record in the circle with 14 saves over 153 appearances, including 114 starts. She posted a 1.72 career earned run average with 819 strikeouts in 756.1 innings and authored 79 career complete games with 28 shutouts. Cagle finished her Clemson career as the program’s all-time offensive leader in games played, games started, batting average, at-bats, hits, doubles, home runs, runs batted in, total bases, and walks. She also owns school career pitching standards in wins, saves, appearances, games started, complete games, shutouts, innings, and strikeouts. She garnered the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year distinction in 2023 and also earned the D1Softball Player of the Year nod in 2023. Cagle was the recipient of the 2023 Rawlings Gold Glove award and garnered NFCA All-America accolades four times, including three straight First-Team commendations from 2022-24. She was also a four-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference honoree, including three consecutive First-Team nods from 2021-23 and she also collected the Third-Team All-ACC notice in 2024. Cagle was honored as ACC Player of the Year in 2021 and 2023, and she appeared in 44 games as a fifth-year senior while leading Clemson to the NCAA Tournament. She received NFCA All-Southeast Region First-Team honors after hitting .338 with seven home runs and 42 runs batted in and also registered an 8-7 record in the circle over 24 appearances with 13 starts. She posted a 2.54 earned run average with 101 strikeouts in 96.1 innings and was a member of the All-Tournament Team at the ACC Championship and Puerto Vallarta College Challenge. Cagle enjoyed her best season in 2023 after setting a Clemson record with 83 hits, including 19 home runs and 15 doubles, and finished the 2023 campaign with a .469 batting average, 50 runs scored, and 57 runs batted in. She also made 38 appearances in the circle with 30 starts and 22 complete games and secured a 25-8 record with a 1.56 earned run average. Cagle struck out 188 batters while holding opponents to a .182 batting average, threw her first perfect game in Clemson history with a five-inning effort against Mercer on March 8, 2023, and also posted an “immaculate inning” against Georgia Tech on March 24, 2023, throwing nine pitches to strike out all three hitters in the second inning. Cagle was a Top 25 Finalist for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award in 2022 after compiling a .308 batting average with 13 home runs and 44 runs batted in and also tallied 10 doubles with a triple while scoring 34 runs. She also finished the season with a 1.92 earned run average over 32 appearances and earned a 16-9 record with three saves over 160.2 innings. She led the Tigers with 176 strikeouts over 160.2 innings and became the first player in ACC history to earn Freshman of the Year and either Player of the Year or Pitcher of the Year honors in the same season during the 2021 campaign. Cagle was named as the ACC’s top player in addition to collecting Rookie of the Year plaudits and was an NFCA National Freshman of the Year Top-3 Finalist who started all 52 games. She also earned a spot on the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top-10 Finalist list and hit .404 with 17 home runs and 45 runs batted in and also registered 12 doubles with a triple and 27 walks. She made 40 appearances in the circle with 32 starts and authored a 28-7 record with five saves and 26 complete games and also recorded 11 shutouts with 267 strikeouts over 216.2 innings. Cagle threw a five-inning no-hitter against Winthrop on April 13, 2021, and also notched a seven-inning no-hitter in a 6-0 victory over Boston College on April 18, 2021. She opened her college career by starting all 27 games during the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign, led all NCAA Division I freshmen with 10 home runs while adding five doubles over 93 at-bats, and paced the ACC and ranked second in the country with 36 runs batted in. Cagle even hit the first-ever home run in Clemson Softball Stadium history against Western Carolina on February 12, 2020, and also posted a 9-6 record in the circle with a save over 89.2 innings, notching 87 strikeouts in 19 appearances.