CLEMSON, S.C. – Clemson redshirt junior Valerie Cagle was named ACC Player of the Year, the league office announced Wednesday. This marks Cagle’s second ACC Player of the Year honor and third postseason ACC nod after being selected as the Freshman and Player of the Year in 2021 and being a first team selection in 2022..
Cagle also earned First-Team All-ACC honors. Four Tigers, Caroline Jacobsen (OF), Alia Logoleo (SS), Ally Miklesh (OF) and Millie Thompson (LHP) garnered Third-Team All-ACC accolades.
Cagle (Yorktown, Va.) is hitting .465 with 18 home runs, one triple and 14 doubles. She tallied 53 RBIs, scored 46 runs and drawn 27 walks while maintaining a .917 slugging percentage and .554 on-base percentage with five stolen bases through 53 regular-season games. Being a dual threat, Cagle also maintains a 1.22 ERA through 32 appearances with seven solo shutouts and three saves. She has 22 wins in the circle and struck out 165 batters in 161 innings of work.
Cagle’s dominance on the diamond has resulted in her setting the single-season program record for home runs, throwing the team’s first perfect game (Mercer, March 8) and completing an immaculate inning needing only nine pitches to strike out three batters in a single inning against Georgia Tech (March 24). A six-time ACC weekly award honoree, three as player and three as pitcher, Cagle was also named a USA Softball Player of the Year Top 10 Finalist earlier this month.
Jacobsen (Tallahassee, Fla.) has been the Tigers’ starting right fielder and cleanup hitter all season. She holds a .316 average with 48 hits, including 12 doubles and 11 home runs, 41 RBIs, 35 runs, seven stolen bases, a .612 slugging percentage and .397 on-base percentage. A graduate transfer, she earned her first All-ACC postseason honor after contributing 52 putouts and four assists.
Logoleo (Nashville, Tenn.) has made a home for herself at shortstop clocking 52 putouts and 129 assists. The redshirt junior is batting .293 through 53 games with 43 hits, including eight doubles and eight home runs, 46 RBIs, 29 runs and 14 stolen bases. She holds a .510 slugging percentage and .367 on-base percentage with three sac flies and three sac bunts. This is Logoleo’s fourth postseason All-ACC honor after garnering second team and all-freshmen accolades in 2021 and third team in 2022.
Miklesh (Stevens Point, Wis.) is fourth on the team with a .331 average through 52 appearances. She has stolen 18 bases after clocking 39 hits and drawing 24 walks. She has contributed four doubles, one triple and one home run to maintain a .466 on-base percentage with 11 RBIs. The graduate transfer contributed 42 putouts in left field to earn her second conference honor, first in the ACC, after being a Second Team All-Big Ten selection in 2022.
Thompson (Bedford, Va.) garners her third All-ACC honor after being a third team selection in 2022 and all-freshman honors in 2021. Holding a 1.68 ERA with 12 victories, including five solo shutouts, the junior has only allowed 13 extra-base hits this season in 18 appearances. She has struck out 68 batters through 83.1 innings of work while only giving up 14 walks.
The Tigers return to the field to begin action at the ACC Championship on Thursday evening at 7:30 p.m. on the ACC Network in the Quarterfinals. No. 3 seed Clemson will face No. 6 seed North Carolina in the final game of the day.
