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Former Blues Persinger, Claytor Distinguishing Themselves As Knights
Sometimes, high school teammates are meant to stay together.
Two former Parry McCluer High School softball players have stayed in Buena Vista and have enjoyed teaming up again at Southern Virginia University for the past two years.
SVU senior Chloe Persinger, a 2020 PM graduate, and rising junior Katie Claytor, a 2022 PM graduate, have both had successful softball careers at SVU.
Persinger, who is on pace to graduate in December, was a pitcher for the Knights and completed her collegiate softball career this past spring. Claytor is a shortstop who was named to the USA South All-Conference First Team for the past two springs. Together, under the direction of seventh-year head coach Tiffane Pendleton, Persinger and Claytor helped SVU go 16-24 overall and 11-7 in the conference this past spring. In 2023, the Knights went 20-20 overall and 6-12 in the conference.
Earlier this month, both players reflected on their careers and touched on what the future holds.
Representing the Fighting Blues In 2019, when they were playing at PM, Persinger and Claytor helped PM make its most recent Class 1 state tournament appearance.
That spring, Persinger’s high school junior year and Claytor’s freshman year, the Blues won the Pioneer District title 13-5 over Craig County before falling at Auburn 3-1 in the Region 1C championship game. Their season ended with a 12-1 road loss to Northwood in the state quarterfinals, and the Blues finished with an overall record of 20-6. It would be Persinger’s final softball season for PM since the 2020 spring sports season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In high school, Persinger and Claytor both played for Troy Clark, who finished his 10th year as the Blues’ head softball coach this spring. Both players acknowledged they were challenged by Clark and assistant coaches Wayne Beverley, Mary Buzzard and the late Fred Fix.
“They didn’t take it easy on us,” said Claytor. “They weren’t going to take it light. They pushed us to be better every day, and I think that helped us become more competitive.”
Persinger agreed that the PM coaching staff “just kept pushing us.”
Clark, who has followed the collegiate careers of Persinger and Claytor, said both young ladies “are great representatives for Parry McCluer softball. They both had supportive fathers and families that helped them put in the extra work throughout their early years to develop the skills that made them great players.”
Remembering what they were like when they played for the Blues, Clark said, “Katie is quiet and seems almost reserved but plays with a steady, internal fire. Chloe wears her heart on her sleeve and plays with visible emotion. They were great teammates and both came back to help the Parry McCluer softball team after they graduated.”
“I really enjoyed coaching them, and I am so proud of their accomplishments,” added Clark. “They are great examples for all present and future Fighting Blues softball players.”
Persinger, who was named Pioneer District softball player of the year as a junior pitcher, also made the all-region and all-state first teams that year. On the mound, she went 8-5, pitching 81 innings with one save, 92 strikeouts, 25 walks and a 2.42 earned runs average. Her batting average was .540 with 44 RBIs and eight home runs.
She was also an all-district volleyball player for the Blues. Coached by Mike McElroy for two years and then Shannon Stiltner for two years, Persinger was an outside hitter.
Claytor, who was named to the all-district first team and the allregion second team as a senior utility player for the softball team, also played varsity basketball for head coach Adam Gilbert for four years. As the only freshman on a team with nine seniors in the 201819 season, Claytor helped the Blues win their third consecutive Class 1 state title. Praising Gilbert for the impact he’s had on her life, Claytor said, “I think he’s a big part of how competitive I am. He helped me become a leader.”
As both a guard and forward for the Blues’ girls basketball team, Claytor was named Class 1 state player of the year as a senior, helping the Blues go 26-2 that season, which ended with a 49-28 loss to Honaker in the state semifinals. Honaker went on to win its third consecutive state title. For her senior year, Claytor averaged 12.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.6 steals per game.
Claytor was also a cross country runner for the Blues for her junior and senior years. In the fall of 2021, under the direction of head coach Chris Poluikis, Claytor helped the PM girls place seventh at the Class 1 state cross country team, with Claytor as the team’s fourth runner.
During their senior years, Persinger and Claytor were both named PM’s female athletes of the year.
When she decided to go to SVU, Claytor thought about playing both basketball and softball, but she decided on softball. “I didn’t want to do both because I figured it would be too much,” she said.
However, Claytor hasn’t stayed away from the basketball court. Even while attending SVU, she has been an assistant coach for the PM girls for the past two years. She also supports her younger sister, Anna, a 2023 PM graduate who is a rising sophomore forward for the SVU women’s basketball team. This past winter, Anna helped the Knights go 22-7 and 17-1 in the USA South Athletic Conference, winning their second conference title in three years before falling to No. 15 De-Sales University 53-42 in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament.
Katie, who has been working for the Rockbridge Area YMCA summer camp for children ages 5-12, said she hasn’t done much with basketball coaching since softball ended this year, “but it was definitely busy going to softball, taking classes, going to basketball practice.”
Chloe has also tried her hand at coaching, teaching private softball lessons to youths over the summer. While Katie hopes to keep coaching, Chloe isn’t sure if she will but wants to stay involved in the game. “I’m definitely gonna be around softball,” said Chloe. “I’m not sure about coaching.”
Over the spring and the first part of the summer, Chloe was a member of the team Yang in the Rockbridge Area Recreation Organization adult softball team. Joining forces with several PM alumni, she helped Yang win the championship in the high bracket by defeating the Yard Dawgs 34-24 in late June at Glen Maury Park in Buena Vista.
Playing for the Knights
At SVU, Katie and Chloe have had successful careers and were both starters for the team in the spring.
They’ve followed in the footsteps of 2016 PM graduate Megan Harmon Daniels, who pitched for the Blues and the Knights before graduating from SVU in 2020. While in high school, Daniels helped the PM softball team win the program’s first two state titles in 2015 and 2016.
Mostly playing first base as a freshman, Katie, who wears No. 22 for the Knights, was named to the USA South All-Conference First Team. She switched to the shortstop position as a sophomore and was named to the all-conference first team this spring as well. She played and started in 39 games as a freshman and played in 38 games as a sophomore, leading the Knights in runs batted in, slugging percentage and on-base plus slugging. This spring, she had 37 hits with 28 RBIs and five doubles.
Of the all-conference honors, Katie said they’re “something to be proud of, but you can’t do it without your team. They’re a big part of your individual awards.”
Chloe began her collegiate career at Randolph College in Lynchburg. As a freshman in 2021, she was named to the All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference Second Team. That year, Chloe hit .333 in 30 at-bats with 10 hits, three runs scored, two doubles, one triple, one home run and six RBI. She slugged .567, which led the team, and her .654 slugging percentage in conference play ranks ninth in the ODAC.
After her sophomore year, Chloe decided to transfer to SVU and has spent her junior and senior years there. She is currently in summer school to achieve the goal of graduating with a degree in biology in December. Of her time at Randolph, Chloe said, “It was just a different atmosphere there.”
Chloe said she wasn’t planning to play softball for SVU when she transferred, but SVU head coach Tiffane Pendleton “welcomed me with open arms and took me in. It definitely helps when there are great people on this team. She’s a great person.”
Katie also praised Pendleton. “I really like her,” she said. ‘She’s a super fun, energetic person, but, when it comes down to softball, she’s super serious, a go-getter.”
Chloe, who wears No. 21 for SVU, played in 23 games as a junior, starting in 14, and played in all 40 games as a senior. This spring, she pitched 43.1 innings and recorded nine strikeouts, and she recorded 39 putouts with 58 assists. At the plate, she tallied 29 hits and batted .238, and she recorded 16 RBIs and scored 15 runs.
Both players said adjusting from the high school to the collegiate level was challenging. “The competition was far more competitive,” said Katie. “It was definitely a wakeup call.”
“For me, I know transferring, the competition was a little bit different, with different conferences,” said Chloe. “They both had really good competition, but coming from a small high school, it was a lot.”
Both players are grateful for the support of their families, who attend a lot of the games. Katie is the daughter of Carrie and Cory Claytor. In addition to Anna, she has an older brother, Zach, who works in maintenance at Washington and Lee University. Chloe is the daughter of Mike and Tammy Persinger, and she has an older brother, Corey.
Chloe and Katie are also grateful for teammates who have helped them along the way. While Chloe lives at home, Katie lives with three teammates: rising seniors Chloe Nelson and Dykell Jones and rising junior Malia Davis.
“They were just really big supporters in everything we did and easy to talk to, easy going,” said Katie. “They’re up for almost anything.”
Chloe Persinger said the same three teammates, along with Katie, “definitely made me feel welcome.”
Looking back on the highlights of their college years, both young ladies said they enjoyed bonding with teammates over spring break this year, when they went to Florida. “We made so many memories down there,” said Katie. “It was just so fun. It was a blast.”
They shared a room there and enjoyed hanging out, said Chloe. “It was a car room, and we slept in car beds,” she said, laughing.
After Chloe graduates, she plans to work in wildlife rehabilitation at the Wildlife Center of Virginia in Waynesboro, first doing an externship.
Katie, who is majoring in family and human development, has two more years at SVU, but she’s got an idea of her career path. “I want to work in athletics,” she said.
While locals will have a chance to watch Katie on the softball field for SVU for the next two years, they can count on both young ladies remaining close to the sport for years to come, carrying their memories as Fighting Blues and Knights with them.
