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Jim Clift
Head Coach Jim Clift completed his 10th season at the helm of Western Carolina softball by helping lead the team to its best performance in the program's 15-year history. For his efforts, Clift earned his first-ever Southern Conference Coach of the Year honor - and only the second in the team's history.
Tabbed to finish seventh in the coaches' preseason poll before the 2021 season, Clift guided the Catamounts to a second-place finish and a No. 2 seed in the SoCon Championship. It was the second-highest finish for the Catamounts and the runner-up finish in the conference tournament was also the best for the program.
With Clift's guidance in 2021, Bailey Huneycutt earned SoCon Player of the Year, a first for Catamount softball, and also a record-setting five players earned post-season honors: Huneycutt (Player of the Year, First Team All-SoCon), Jayme Eilers (First Team All-SoCon, SoCon All-Freshman), Kailey McNeil (First Team All-SoCon), Savannah Rice (SoCon All-Freshman) and Jeralynn Wells (SoCon All-Freshman). There were also four SoCon All-Tournament selections at the completion of the tournament: Eilers, McNeil, Addie Pate and Myra Twitty as the Catamounts had the most placed on the all-tournament team.
COMPLETE LIST OF 2021 TEAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS
All told in his 10 seasons, Clift has had seven SoCon First Team selection, eight second-team all-conference, nine all-freshman selections, and eight SoCon All-Tournament honorees. Also under Clift, the Catamounts have had a player named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District III team for nine-straight seasons. Under his watchful eyey, the Catamounts have had three NFCA All-Region selections (Bailey Huneyctt 3rd team, 2021), Crystal Cyr (2nd team 2016) and Erin Foster (1st team, 2012). Western Carolina had its first Academic All-American for softball in 2016 when standout Taylor Sigmon was named to the second team. Also in the 2016 season, the team had the highest GPA, 3.673, in all of NCAA Division I softball.
Clift has the most wins as a Head Coach for the Catamount softball program, with 202 victories. He is the longest tenured head coach in the program's 15 seasons..
Clift saw his ninth season as head coach cut short with the COVID-19 pandemic halting the 2020 season after the completion of a doubleheader with Radford on March 11.
The Catamount softball team had one of its biggest signature wins in program history under Clift when the 2020 club opened the season with a 2-0 shutout of Clemson in the Tigers' first home game as a program. WCU freshman pitcher Savannah Rice tossed the complete game on national television as the game was broadcast on the ACC Network.
In the 16 games played in 2020, WCU had a SoCon Pitcher of the Week and a SoCon Player of the Week.
The 2019 season had Clift blend veterans and newcomers to become the first Catamount team to defeat a team from the state of California when WCU defeated host Loyola Marymount 3-2. WCU ended the season 21-32 with key victories over Jacksonville State and a doubleheader sweep of Georgia State. As the No. 7 seed, WCU ousted No. 2 seed Samford 6-4 in the opening round of the 2019 Southern Conference Championships.
In the 2017 season, with a team only boasting three seniors, Clift made a nice run to close out the season including splitting a doubleheader with ACC foe Virginia Tech and taking the SoCon series from 2016 SoCon Champion Samford – it was the fifth time out of the last six series against the Bulldogs the Catamounts have earned the series win.
Clift guided the 2016 club to the best performance since the inception of the team in 2006.
In the 10th anniversary year of the program, Clift helped lead the 2016 team to a 33-24 record, the second most wins in program history, and ended the regular season ranked third in the Southern Conference entering the Southern Conference Championships as the No. 3 seed.
During the course of the 2016 season, Clift eclipsed the 100 career wins mark making him the first head coach in Catamount softball history to go over 100 career wins. He also helped guide senior pitcher Taylor Sigmon to the best season of her career which saw her throw the first perfect game in program history in the 5-0 win over North Carolina A&T on April 13.
In 2015, Clift helped guide the Catamounts to their second appearance in the semi-finals of the Southern Conference Championships. Courtney Price and Jordan Garrett were named to the SoCon All-Tournament team.
During the 2015 season, Clift also had Taylor Sigmon end the year ranked top-10 in the nation in saves for the second consecutive year and graduated as the NCAA career saves leader with 20 career saves.
In 2014, Clift had a pair of freshmen, Courtney Price and Kara Salvo, named not only to the Southern Conference All-Conference Team but also the All-Freshmen team. Also in 2014, junior Taylor Sigmon was named to the Capital One Academic All-District III First Team and ended the year ranked fourth in the nation for saves with six. In 2013, Clift led the Catamounts to its first win in the Southern Conference tournament since 2007. Also, then senior Haley Pace was named to the 2013 Capital One Academic All-District III First Team, becoming the first player in Catamount softball’s eight-year history to be named to the academic all-district team. In his first year, in 2012, Clift led the team to its best overall record since 2007 and highest seed in the Southern Conference, a sixth seed, also since 2007.
He helped guide senior outfielder Erin Foster to be selected to the NFCA First Team Mideast All-Region team, a first for Catamount softball. Under Clift's watch, Foster was also a Southern Conference First Team selection and ranked 19th in the nation in home runs for a season with 18.
He became the third head coach in Western Carolina softball history, taking over in the summer of 2011. Prior to taking over the head coaching position, he spent two seasons as the assistant coach for the Catamount softball team.
Clift began his softball coaching career in 1997 and has coached at every level including travel ball, high school, and college. Clift has coached over 30 teams in his softball coaching career. Clift was a 26-year veteran of the San Diego Police Department. While on the SDPD, Clift was on SWAT for 23 years, the last 20 of which he was a member of the full-time hostage rescue unit, the Special Response Team (SRT).
As a member of SRT, Clift served as a lead SWAT instructor for over 20 years. A 1992 graduate of San Diego State University in Sociology and Public Administration, Clift went on to earn his Master's Degree from the Texas Woman's University in Kinesiology in 2007. He also received his 4-star Master Coach Certification from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) in 2006.
Clift, a native of San Diego, California resides in Cullowhee with his wife, Eileen.
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