Cammy Pereira won’t still be on the roster whenever it happens, but Clemson’s senior infielder believes the softball program will pull off a first sooner rather than later.
Pereira played her final game for the Tigers on Friday when Oklahoma State ended Clemson’s season in the Stillwater Super Regional. Pereira played the last three seasons at Clemson after transferring from Furman, meaning she has seen the entirety of the program’s progress since its inaugural season in 2020.
Since then, Clemson has made a quick ascension among the nation’s best, winning the ACC’s regular-season title last year and making consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. Clemson earned its first-ever super regional appearance this year by winning its own regional, also firsts for the program.
Pereira believes the Tigers are just a year away from taking the next step in their postseason progression.
“The first year obviously ended short with COVID, and that was disappointing. But I think that year would’ve been kind of our ACC tournament run when that may have felt a little too big,” Pereira said of Clemson’s debut season. “I think last year, regionals felt a little too big, and this year we kind of blew through it. This year, supers may have felt a little too big, and next year they’re going to blow through that and head to the World Series.”
Pereira explained her prediction has a lot to do with not only the experience Clemson’s younger players have acquired over the last couple of seasons but also how quickly that talent has developed. Sophomores Valerie Cagle, Millie Thompson, McKenzie Clark and Alia Logoleo earned all-ACC honors this season while catcher Aby Vieira was named to the all-freshman team.
“Just seeing young kids grow up,” Pereira said. “Seeing Val come into her own, Kenz come into her own, Millie come into her own and just to play on these big stages. That wasn’t things they were doing their freshmen year. They had raw talent, but they didn’t have the experience.”
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