Valerie Cagle named among National Player of the Year finalists

Cagle is among 10 finalists remaining for the top player in softball this year. (Clemson athletics photo)

by Press Release - Wed May 05 13:13:13 GMT-04:00 2021

OKLAHOMA CITY –– Clemson's Valerie Cagle is among 10 Finalists who remain in the hunt for the 2021 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, USA Softball announced today. The USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award, which is considered the most prestigious honor in Division I women’s collegiate softball, recognizes the outstanding athletic achievement by Division I female players across the country.

Cagle, a second-year freshman ace in the circle and at the plate, paces the ACC in slugging percentage (.867), earned run average (0.95), wins (24), saves (8) and shutouts (9), as well as holding top-5 spots in batting average (.430), on-base percentage (.520), runs scored (38), hits (55), doubles (12), home runs (14), walks (24; as a batter), opposing batting average (.181) and batters struck out (205).

Previous recipients of the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award are Stacey Nuveman (UCLA, 2002), Cat Osterman (Texas, 2003, 2005 and 2006), Jessica Van der Linden (Florida State, 2004), Monica Abbott (Tennessee, 2007), Angela Tincher (Virginia Tech, 2008), Danielle Lawrie (Washington, 2009 and 2010), Ashley Hansen (Stanford, 2011), Keilani Ricketts (Oklahoma, 2012 and 2013), Lacey Waldrop (Florida State, 2014), Lauren Haeger (Florida, 2015), Sierra Romero (Michigan, 2016), Kelly Barnhill (Florida, 2017) and Rachel Garcia (UCLA, 2018 and 2019). A 2020 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award was not given out due to the COVID-19 pandemic and season cancellation.

The Finalists include two graduate students, four seniors, two juniors and two freshmen representing seven NCAA Division I universities and four athletic conferences. Among the universities, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Washington are represented by two student-athletes while Clemson, Kentucky, Oklahoma State and UCLA have one student-athlete on the list.

The Top 3 Finalists will be announced on Wednesday, May 19 before the 2021 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year is virtually revealed on June 1 prior to the 2021 NCAA Women’s College World Series (WCWS), which will take place at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex June 3-9. Additional information on the reveal will be announced at a later date.