Clemson softball opens second season with more depth, high hopes |
The Clemson Softball team is set to open its season at the River City Lead Off in Jacksonville, Florida hosted by the University of North Florida. The Tigers were one of the hottest teams in America last year before the COVID-19 pandemic cut their season short. Head Coach
John Rittman had his team sitting with a 19-8 record and sitting atop the ACC standings with a 5-1 conference record.
Clemson was 12-2 in their final 14 games, including the program's first-ever win over a ranked team on February 26th, a 4-1 victory over the 14th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs inside of Clemson Softball Stadium. “It’s been a long 11 months without softball and looking forward to playing some great competition this weekend in Jacksonville, Florida,” Rittman told the media on Tuesday morning. “We had a great fall and just very grateful we were able to get back together in August and have a great fall camp. “We accomplished a lot of things in a very little amount of time in our inaugural season. We had a lot of special moments that we will cherish for a lifetime, but we’ve turned the page and we’re getting ready for this year now. I’m very excited about this team, we have a great mix of upperclassmen and freshman, and I feel we’ll be a much better defensive team this year.” The Clemson program returns all but one player from last season (MK Bonamy) and had three players in Valerie Cagle (pitcher/utility), Hannah Goodwin (infield), and Marissa Guimbarda (outfield/utility) named to the ACC Preseason All-ACC Team. The trio last year led the team in batting average and combined for 25 home runs and 83 RBIs in the shortened season. During media day, Rittman and the select players that were available to talk to the media all commented on the depth the 2021 team will have. Last season, Rittman had only three pitchers on the roster. Logan Caymol registered a 7-2 record and struck out 63 batters in 58 innings of work as the primary “ace” of the staff. Valerie Cagle recorded the most innings in the circle with 89 and finished the season with a 9-6 record and a 2.19 ERA. Emma Whitfield rounded out the rotation and finished the season with a perfect 3-0 record in 23 innings of work for the Tigers. Clemson also returns five batters who all hit over .300 last season. Valerie Cagle (10 home runs) and Marissa Guimbarda (11 home runs) will head the heart of the lineup and senior speedsters Cammy Pereira and Ansley Gilstrap will likely be the No. 1 and No. 2 hitters in the lineup. Gilstrap sat out the entire season last year due to an injury but stole over 40 bases her last season at USC Upstate where she was named ASUN Second-Team All-Conference. Rittman added three more pitchers this offseason and will now have a multitude of starters in the circle and from the bullpen. Regan Spencer, a right-handed pitcher from Lexington, North Carolina, right-handed Carsten Puckett from Ridgeway, South Carolina and left-handed Millie Thompson from Bedford, Virginia all join the pitching staff. With all three coming in as freshmen, I fully expect to see a healthy dose of Cagle and Caymol early in the season as the “newcomers” get accustomed to pitching in college and the ACC. The second-year Tigers head coach also hit the recruiting trail hard during the offseason, adding eight new faces to the roster. Graduate transfer Casey Bingham transferred from Furman in the fall of last year but did not appear in any games for the Tigers in 2020. The infielder will add a nice bat in the bottom half of the lineup with some power behind it for Rittman and his staff. Freshmen Ansley Houston, McKenzie Clark, Sarah Howell and Jaden Cheek will give Rittman a nice little addition to the depth of his team. Just like everything else in the world right now, the 2021 softball season will not look the same as before. The ACC and coaches decided on cutting the season by 10% or from 56 games down to 50 games this season. ACC play will also look a little different this season, as the usual three-game weekend series will not feature four games. The 24 league games will now be increased to 38, allowing the teams to schedule 12 non-conference games for the 2021 season. After Clemson competes in the River City Lead Off tournament this weekend with two games against Illinois State, one against North Florida and the Sunday game taking on Jacksonville, the Tigers will return to the newly named McWhorter Stadium for three games in two days against ACC foe Virginia Tech on February 18th (doubleheader) and Friday the 19th. Here is how the rest of the Clemson Softball home schedule will look: February 27th & 28th: Vs. Elon Clemson will have five ACC road series during the season: February 20th & 21st: @Georgia Tech The Tigers will also travel to Columbia on Wednesday, April 21st for a midweek matchup with rival South Carolina. Clemson was tabbed to finish in sixth in the ACC standings this year as voted on by the coaches of the conference. The Tigers will open their season this Friday at noon in Jacksonville, Florida against Illinois State in the River City Lead Off Tournament.
March 12th & 13th: Vs. Furman
March 26th-28th: Vs. Duke
April 1st-3rd: Vs. North Carolina
April 13th: Vs. Winthrop
April 16th-18th: Vs. Boston College
April 23rd-25th: Vs. North Carolina State
March 5th-7th: @Virginia
March 19th-21st: @Louisville
April 9th-11th: @Notre Dame
May 7th-9th: @Syracuse
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