YORK COUNTY — Yorktown’s Valerie Cagle has been living her life on the softball diamond since the age of six.
Once it became clear to her that softball was going to be more than just a hobby, Cagle began playing for regional club teams. In high school, she started getting recruited to play in the NCAA, and she committed to the University of Delaware at just age 14.
When the Delaware coach took a job at another university, Cagle began to look at switching her commitment. It was then that Clemson University announced it would be launching its inaugural softball team in 2019.
“You don’t pick the school for the coach, but at the same time, you are spending so much time with your sport that it can’t not be a factor. I had been committed to Delaware for so long, but I just didn’t see myself going there with someone different as the head coach,” Cagle said.
She visited the school in South Carolina and knew immediately that was where she was going to end up.
“Something for me that I always wanted was to not just go to another good program and just be another good player on their roster. I wanted to be able to really make an impact and make a difference in that program. What better way than a program that doesn’t exist?” Cagle said.
While at Clemson, Cagle racked up multiple honors, including being named the ACC Freshman of the Year and ACC Player of the Year. She also joined Team USA’s U-18 Junior Women’s National Team. In 2023, Cagle was named USA Softball’s Collegiate Player of the Year, Softball America’s Player of the Year and ACC Player of the Year for the second time.
She finished her collegiate career as the school’s all-time leader in games played, games started, batting average, at bats, hits, doubles, home runs, RBIs, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, walks, total bases, appearances in the circle, starts in the circle, victories, innings pitched, lowest opponent batting average, strikeouts, complete games, saves and solo shutouts.
Her collegiate accolades led her to a NIL contract with Mizuno, the leading softball equipment supplier in the U.S.
After facing bouts of adversity in her own softball career, Cagle wanted to find a way to design a piece of softball equipment with positive affirmations. In her pitch to Mizuno, she came up with the idea of creating a softball glove with positive words stitched into the leather.
“I was really trying to figure out what my own identity was outside of softball and what I wanted to relate to. That was what really led to the creation of the glove, this idea of ‘own your story.’ Everyone’s story is a little bit different, and that’s okay, and that’s what makes you, you. You should take that into your game and be who you are on the field,” Cagle said.
Cagle is now an assistant coach at Furman University, but will also continue her playing career in the Athlete’s Unlimited Professional Softball League as a utility player for the Carolina Blaze. When she takes to the field for her first Blaze game, she will use her own Mizuno glove.
“That glove is mine and I will use it this summer. It doesn’t have just a message that I want to send to other people, but also a message that I want to send to myself as I play,” Cagle said.
Cagle’s softball glove is sold exclusively through Mizuno’s website and sporting goods stores.