Young Clemson Softball Program Is Growing Up

Clemson’s softball team was the toast of the town in 2021. It isn’t often that new teams in their first full season win their conference regular season title. The timing of the program’s debut added to the adversity that they had to overcome to be successful.

Their inaugural 2020 season was cut short due to COVID, and the 2021 season was impacted too. They couldn’t play all the non-conference matchups that they originally scheduled. Nonetheless, they persevered, and finished on top of the ACC standings. They played well in their first ACC tournament, finishing as the runner-up to Duke.

Despite the joy of their accomplishments, the program and their fans received a dose of reality when they were not awarded the opportunity to host a regional in the NCAA playoffs and were instead sent to Tuscaloosa for the Alabama regional.

There were suggestions that the size of McWhorter Stadium might be one of the reasons the Tigers weren’t selected to host a regional, but a quick review of the stadiums that did host regionals shows that stadiums of comparable size and configuration were selected to host in 2021. The reason for the snub is more likely due to the newness of the program, and the strength of the 2021 schedule.

Clemson was unable to play some of the non-conference opponents that they originally scheduled. Whether they would have defeated those opponents will never be known, but it did ultimately hurt their SOS. Additionally, they did not face Florida State in the regular season or the ACC tournament. FSU eventually was the runner-up to Oklahoma in the Women’s College World Series.

With fewer disruptions to the 2022 schedule, the Tigers have been able to play a more difficult schedule, but with that comes more setbacks. Clemson is currently 19-8 overall and 1-5 in the ACC, having played two conference series against Duke and Virginia Tech, two of the stronger teams in the league.

That mark may seem disappointing considering last year’s team only lost eight games overall and five in conference the whole season, but a deeper dive of the schedule shows that the strongest teams the Tigers will face in the regular season have mostly been frontloaded. A challenging series against the Seminoles at Joanne Graf Field awaits later in April, but the upcoming schedule will give Clemson the opportunity to build momentum as they prepare to travel to Tallahassee.

A schedule with tougher appointments may result in more losses on the record but playing the best competition will bring out the best in the Tigers in the long run. Losses always sting but dealing with them and moving forward is an important part of maturing as a team and a program. Head coach John Rittman expressed this himself earlier this month:

“You can’t look at the end result, you’ve got to look at the process, and we’ve got to go back to taking care of the everyday process of getting ready and preparing. Good teams get better at practice this time of year, and we’ve got to do that, and then we’ve got to really make sure that we’re playing this season one game at a time. We’re not looking too far past our next opponent.”

Clemson’s ace, Valerie Cagle, continues to impress following her appearance last fall for Team USA in the U-18 Softball World Cup. It is difficult to believe this is just her redshirt sophomore season.

While the success of 2021 was a great joy, the reality is that Clemson’s softball program is still growing up, and sometimes they will have to cope with growing pains. The experience of facing better teams so far this season will pay dividends for Clemson in the long run, and Coach Rittman understands what it takes to guide them through this process. While the record might not look as good at the end of the year, the team is still taking steps forward.

Clemson takes the field again Wednesday evening to visit the Georgia Bulldogs at 7PM on the SEC Network.