As he stood there holding the ACC Championship Trophy while posing for pictures last Sunday at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, North Carolina, Clate Schmidt was still in shock about what had just happened.
A year after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and all the obstacles he and his teammates had been through with a coaching change, his chemotherapy and radiation treatments, his fight to get back on the baseball diamond and then the ups and downs of a regular season, Schmidt and the Clemson Tigers were ACC Champions.
“I really could not fathom what was going on,” Clemson’s senior pitcher said.