Future Cowgirl Clopton primed for strong finish to dominant Free State career
LAWRENCE, Kan. (BVM) — Oklahoma State signee Tatum Clopton is the best high school softball pitcher in the state of Kansas, which shouldn’t come as much of a surprise considering her pedigree. Her mother, Sarah (Workman) Clopton, is a former Orlando Athletic Association Athlete of the Year who went on to become an All-Big 12 pitcher for the Kansas Jayhawks in the late ‘90s.
But despite her lineage, Tatum’s talents in the pitcher’s circle didn’t come to her right away. Her first years as a 10U pitcher were, as she describes, “struggle years.” Fortunately, she had her mother and her father Aaron, who was also a coach, to help her find her way through those struggles.
“I just kept working with both my mom and my dad which made me the pitcher I am today, but it was a really rough process,” Tatum said. “I don’t think I’d be who I am as a pitcher without my parents because both of them have really helped me figure it all out and taught me to never give up even though it was super frustrating in the beginning.”
Frustration would eventually turn into fun for Tatum as she began to find success as a teenager.
“It wasn’t until 14U I started figuring things out,” Tatum said. “Everything started really clicking and it was so much fun. I was good, I was winning and it’s just gone from there.”
Now a Free State senior, Tatum is certainly better than good, and she’s experienced a lot of winning with the Firebirds, who will begin their quest for a third consecutive KSHSAA state title later this month after losing that chance last year when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of spring sports across the country. Tatum, while trying to lead the Firebirds to another title, will also have a chance to add to what’s already a sparkling, albeit shortened high school softball résumé .
In 165 innings pitched for Free State, the righthanded fireballer is 24-2 with a 0.64 ERA, 296 strikeouts and only 24 walks. She was named the Gatorade Kansas Softball Player of the Year after a sophomore season in which she delivered a 16-1 record, a 0.52 ERA, 212 strikeouts and just 15 walks in 101 innings. Tatum also threw three perfect games, including one in the postseason, and didn’t allow a run in a five-game state tourney run.
“I haven’t been around a pitcher that’s been this dominant,” Free State head coach Lee Ice said. “And she’s got all the pitches. And she throws strikes. … She does everything well and dominates the game.”
Tatum’s dominance isn’t limited to just high school competition. She struck out 22 batters and allowed just five hits in 12 innings pitched for her DeMarini Aces club team during the 16-and-under Premier PGF National Championships held over the summer following her sophomore season. She then moved up to the Aces’ 18U team during the fall of her junior year and posted a 0.91 ERA and averaged more than a strikeout per inning, stats which helped her case for being named the state’s Gatorade Softball Player of the Year again last year despite missing out on her junior season.
While Tatum has accomplished quite a bit since the start of her sophomore year, she knew she was going to play with one of the country’s top college softball programs before she even began to achieve major accolades. She’s been committed to the Oklahoma State Cowgirls since her freshman year. All it took was a few conversations with coaches and a visit to the Stillwater, Okla., campus for Tatum to know that OSU was the right fit.
“I was down there at a camp [in Dec. 2017],” Tatum said, “and I told my parents about midway through the camp, ‘I think I want to commit here’ and both of them were like, ‘What? So soon? So fast?’ and I was like, ‘This is the place for me.’ That day I sat down with the coaches and told them this is the team that I want to be playing on, this is the coaching staff that I want, this is the team that I’d like to take to the World Series someday.”
Such a feat isn’t far-fetched. The Cowgirls reached the Women’s College World Series in 2019 and are currently ranked No. 8 in the nation. And Tatum has the potential to become a high-impact college pitcher for a highly-competitive program.
“She believes she can be the best and I know any program would love to have a kid like her because she’s going to make everybody else better,” Ice said. “She’s gotten bigger, stronger, more mature. She competes, which is something you can’t teach. She has a lot of confidence when she gets to the circle and that confidence breeds confidence with everybody else.”
That confidence combined with Tatum’s consistency makes life easier for Ice and the Firebirds as they return to the field after a full season was taken away. Free State also has the added luxury of returning most of the same players who were only underclassmen when they helped the program capture its second state title in 2019. Tatum’s talented senior class was hoping to be the first one to win four consecutive championships, but they’ll settle for the chance to tie the state record with three straight. And with Tatum stepping in the circle on most nights, the Firebirds will be favored to do just that.
“I think we’re all just super grateful and really taking advantage of every single moment this year because we lost last year,” Tatum said. “We’re kind of combining the two years into one this year; we’re making it all worth it and laying it all on the line. There’s definitely a feeling of relief that at least we have a season but I think we’re all just grateful and excited to finally be back.”
