SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Western Carolina shortstop Bailey Huneycutt and UNCG right-handed ace Morgan Scott have been named Southern Conference Softball Player and Pitcher of the Year, respectively, as voted by the league’s head coaches and announced by the conference office on Wednesday. Scott also earned Freshman of the Year honors, while 10^th-year Catamount head coach Jim Clift earned his his first Coach of the Year nod, getting the maximum possible votes.
 
The league’s coaches also selected two all-conference teams and an all-freshman squad. They were not allowed to vote for their own players or themselves.
 
Huneycutt was tabbed the top player in the conference after hitting a league-best .369 and slugging .746, second in the league. She started all 48 games for the Catamounts and amassed a league-best .500 on-base percentage. Huneycutt totaled a league-best 14 home runs, tallied 48 hits, second in the league, and finished the regular-season with 32 RBIs, fourth amongst league players. The junior was honored as the SoCon player of the week on Feb.15 and April 12 and was the April player of the month. The native of Oakboro, North Carolina, is the first Western Carolina player to earn Player of the Year recognition.
 
Scott earns pitcher of the year honors after boasting a league-best 2.11 ERA and holding opposing batters to a .203 batting average. Overall, the Irmo, South Carolina, native struck out 177 batters in 159 1/3 innings, both league bests, while amassing a league-high 17 wins. Scott, a three-time SoCon pitcher of the week this season, is UNCG’s first pitcher of the year in league history. She becomes just the third Spartan and first since fellow pitcher and current volunteer assistant coach Stephanie Bryden in 2016 to be named freshman of the year UNCG joined the league in 1997-98. This marks just the second time since the SoCon began sponsoring the sport in 1994 and the first time since 2007 (Brooke Loudermilk, Chattanooga) that a player was tabbed pitcher of the year and freshman of the year in the same season.
 
Despite Western Carolina being picked to finish last in the preseason voting by the league’s coaches, Clift guided the Catamounts to a 25-24 overall record, the most wins by the Catamounts since 2016, a 12-5 league mark and three series sweeps as his squad earned the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Southern Conference Softball Championship. The 12 conference wins are the most under Clift and the second-most in program history behind a 16-4 mark in 2006, while the No. 2 seed is the highest since that same 2006 season.
 
UNCG led the way in all-conference balloting with seven total selections, with five nabbing spots on the all-conference teams and two on the all-freshman team. Western Carolina tallied six representatives, followed by Mercer and Samford with five. ETSU, Furman, and Chattanooga claimed three selections each.
 
UNCG and Western Carolina had a league-high three All-SoCon first-teamers each and were followed by Mercer with two. Furman, Samford and Chattanooga had one first-teamer each.
 
The first team features Scott at pitcher and Huneycutt at one of the four infielder spots. Joining Scott is Jayme Eilers, a sophomore at Western Carolina, who finished second in the SoCon with a .233 opposing batting average, while also finishing second to only Scott in innings pitched (159), strikeouts (156), starts (26) and wins (12). Western Carolina senior Kailey McNeil nabbed the first-team all-conference spot at catcher as she finished fourth in the league with 32 RBIs and sixth in the league in total bases (74), fifth in walks (21) and fifth in slugging percentage (.565). Furman’s Mackense Greico, Mercer’s Danielle Castleberry and Samford’s Whitney Hinton joined Huneycutt as infielder selections. Greico, a redshirt sophomore, was second in the league with a .362 batting average, third in hits (47) and total bases (86), and fourth in slugging percentage (.662) and home runs (nine), while leading the league in fielding chances (308) and putouts (298). Castleberry, a senior, hit .341 with 45 hits and 26 RBIs, while Hinton slugged at a .541 clip and contributed 27 RBIs and 42 hits.
 
Mercer’s Micayla Rood, UNCG’s Makenna Matthijs and Chattanooga’s Hayleigh Weissenbach were the outfielders recognized on the  first team. Rood, a senior, hit .354, fourth in the league, stole 15 bases, second in the league, and tallied 29 RBIs, fifth in the league. Matthijs, a senior, led the league in hits (56), RBIs (41), and runs scored (43) and total bases (104), while her .361 batting average and .671 slugging clip were third. Weissenbach, a graduate, hit .330 and earned a .421 on base percentage, both 10^th in the league. UNCG’s Kayleigh Willis was tabbed the first team’s designated player after leading the league in slugging (.761) and tying for the league lead in on-base percentage (.500). The senior finished second in the league in RBIs (38) and third in home runs (10).
 
ETSU redshirt senior Kelly Schmidt and Mercer sophomore Ashlyn Donner were voted on as second-team pitchers. UNCG sophomore Maycin Brown and redshirt senior Jasmine Palmer, Samford senior Timberlyn Shurbutt and Chattanooga junior Emily Coltharp were honored as second-team infielders. Mercer senior Allie Jones, Samford juniors Amanda Briskin and Ryan Brzozoski were the three outfielders selected. Furman sophomore Riley Ludlam was tabbed the designated player.
 
The all-freshman squad was led by Western Carolina, who boasted three selections in Eilers, Savannah Rice and Jeralynn Wells. UNCG had two as the Spartans placed Brown and Scott on the team. ETSU’s Lilly Holston, Furman’s
Claire Ginder, Mercer’s Annie Potter, Samford’s Grace Robertson and Chattanooga’s Courtney Ball rounded out the 10-member team.  
 
In all, five players made their second consecutive appearance on the All-SoCon teams.
 
The 2021 SoCon Softball Championship begins Thursday at UNCG Softball Stadium in Greensboro, North Carolina. The tournament, hosted by UNCG, will culminate Saturday with the championship game(s) at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. (if necessary). All games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
2021 SoCon Softball Awards and All-Conference Teams

Player of the Year
Bailey Huneycutt, Western Carolina, Jr., SS
 
Pitcher of the Year
Morgan Scott, UNCG, So.
 
Freshman of the Year
Morgan Scott, UNCG, P
 
Coach of the Year
Jim Clift, Western Carolina
 
All-SoCon First Team
P    –   Morgan Scott, UNCG, So.
P    –   Jayme Eilers, Western Carolina, So.
C    –   Kailey McNeil, Western Carolina, Sr.
INF –   Mackense Greico, Furman, R-So.
INF – Danielle Castleberry, Mercer, Sr.
INF –   Whitney Hinton, Samford, Sr.
INF –   Bailey Huneycutt, Western Carolina, Jr.
OF –   Micayla Rood, Mercer, Sr.
OF –   Makenna Matthijs, UNCG, Sr.
OF –   Hayleigh Weissenbach, Chattanooga, Gr.
DP –   Kayleigh Willis, UNCG, R-Sr.
 
All-SoCon Second Team
P    –   Kelly Schmidt, ETSU, R-Sr.
P    –   Ashlyn Donner, Mercer, So.
C    –   Kylie Toler, ETSU, R-Sr.
INF –   Maycin Brown, UNCG, So.
INF –   Jasmine Palmer, UNCG, R-Sr.
INF –   Timberlyn Shurbutt, Samford, Sr.
INF –   Emily Coltharp, Chattanooga, Jr.
OF –   Allie Jones, Mercer, Sr.
OF –   Amanda Briskin, Samford, Jr.
OF –   Ryan Brzozoski, Samford, Jr.
DP –   Riley Ludlam, Furman, So.
 
All-Freshman Team
Lilly Holston, ETSU
Claire Ginder, Furman
Annie Potter, Mercer
Maycin Brown, UNCG
Morgan Scott, UNCG
Grace Robertson, Samford
Courtney Ball, Chattanooga
Jayme Eilers, Western Carolina
Savannah Rice, Western Carolina
Jeralynn Wells, Western Carolina
 
* Student-athletes that would have been eligible for all-freshman and freshman of the year consideration last year before the season was curtailed by the coronavirus pandemic are eligible to be considered for this season’s all-freshman and freshman of the year awards.