‘She’s a beast’: Cagle gets high praise from fellow two-way Clemson star
By: Gavin Oliver June 25, 2023

Game respects game, and one two-way Clemson star showed a lot of respect to another during a recent interview on ACC Network.

Clemson baseball junior lefthander and first baseman Caden Grice, the 2023 recepient of the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award, had high praise for Clemson softball redshirt junior righthander/utility combo Valerie Cagle — the 2023 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year.

“Valerie Cagle’s special,” Grice said. “What she did, player of the year, that’s a huge honor and it’s super cool to have her at Clemson.”

This past season, Grice was 8-1 with a 3.35 ERA, .196 opponents’ batting average and had 101 strikeouts against 33 walks in 78.0 innings pitched over 14 starts on the mound. At the plate, the first-team All-American hit .307 with 18 homers, a triple, 15 doubles, 68 RBIs, 60 runs, a .618 slugging percentage, .411 on-base percentage and four steals in 60 games.

Cagle, meanwhile, led the Tigers at the plate during the 2023 season with a .469 average after clocking a program-record 83 hits, including 19 home runs and 15 doubles. The two-time ACC Player of the Year tallied 57 RBIs and scored 50 while maintaining a .887 slugging percentage and .565 on-base percentage. In the circle, the three-time All-ACC First Team selection posted a 1.56 ERA and struck out 188 batters in 193 innings of work. She earned 25 victories and posted eight solo shutouts that included a five-inning perfect game.

If Grice had a bat, and Cagle was in the circle, how would that matchup turn out?

“She’d probably strike me out,” Grice admitted. “I’ve been behind the plate watching her pitch, and it seems like every pitch I’m looking over at my buddy like this, just eyes wide. I’m like, ‘You see what that pitch just did?’ She’s a beast. She’s super fun to watch.”

Grice believes the best is yet to come next season for Cagle and the Clemson softball team that finished this past season with a 49-12 overall record — the most wins in a single season in the program’s short infancy — and advanced to NCAA Tournament super regionals for the second straight season.

“That softball team’s very entertaining,” Grice said. “I mean what they did this year was incredible, and I think they’re going to have an even better team next year. To watch them potentially win it all is going to be really fun to watch.”