SPARTANBURG, S.C. – UNCG right-hander Morgan Scott has been named the Southern Conference Pitcher of the Year for the second straight season and Samford shortstop Mary Katherine Tedder has been named the SoCon Player of the Year in voting of the league’s seven head coaches. Bulldog right-hander McKenzie Newcomb was voted the SoCon Freshman of the Year and the Spartans’ Janelle Breneman was recognized by her peers as the league’s coach of the year.
 
The coaches also named All-SoCon first and second teams and an all-freshman team. The first team contained an additional catcher, the second team included an additional infielder and two extra outfielders and the all-freshman included an additional selection due to ties in the voting.
 
Scott has amassed 23 wins and struck out 259 batters in 227 2/3 innings over 38 appearances (32 starts) this season, all of which lead the SoCon. The junior from Irmo, South Carolina, has struck out at least 10 batters in a game eight times this year, including a career-high 16 in a three-hit shutout of Radford on March 30, and needs just four more to become UNCG’s single-season record-holder for strikeouts. Scott (23-11), who made it consecutive shutouts with a one-hitter over Western Carolina on April 2, is a four-time SoCon Pitcher of the Week and the March Pitcher of the Month this season. She has held opposing batters to a .218 average, turned in 26 complete games and picked up two saves. Scott, who ranks ninth in SoCon history in opponent batting average (.216), ninth in career strikeouts (575) and second in strikeouts per 7 innings (8.03), becomes the seventh player in league history to be named the pitcher of the year in consecutive seasons and the first for UNCG.
 
Tedder leads the Southern Conference in several offensive categories this season. The graduate student from Hoover, Alabama, paces the league with a .386 batting average, a .693 slugging percentage and a .497 on-base percentage in her first season for the Bulldogs. She has also clubbed a SoCon-best 18 doubles and drawn a league-leading 30 walks in addition to totaling seven home runs, two triples, 31 runs scored and 41 RBIs in helping Samford to a 31-17 overall mark and second-place SoCon finish at 15-3. Tedder, who has started all 48 games for Samford at shortstop so far, has hit safely in 31 of them, including 17 multi-hit games. She has driven in multiple runs 11 times, including a pair of four-RBI games, against Southern Miss and Western Carolina. Tedder, who earned SoCon Player of the Week honors twice this season, has struck out just 16 times in 140 at bats. She is Samford’s third SoCon Player of the Year and first since Shelby Maze in 2018.
 
Newcomb, who earned first-team All-SoCon honors in addition to being named the league’s freshman of the year, leads the SoCon with a 1.70 ERA and a .218 opponent batting average this season. At 20-8 overall, the rookie from Meridianville, Alabama, is second in the league in wins, innings pitched (168 2/3), strikeouts (151) and walks allowed (25). Newcomb has made 23 starts in 31 appearances, logging 19 complete games and one save and turning in six solo shutouts, including a one-hitter against Western Carolina on April 9, and two combined shutouts. She did not walk a batter in 11 of her starts and opened her career by going 36 2/3 innings before issuing a free pass. Newcomb earned SoCon Pitcher of the Week honors three times this season and was the April Pitcher of the Month after going 9-0 with a 0.89 ERA in the month. She is Samford’s second SoCon Freshman of the Year and first since Shelby Maze in 2015.
 
Breneman earned her third SoCon Coach of the Year honor since 2018 by leading UNCG to its fifth straight regular-season SoCon title. The 10^th-year Spartan coach has led her squad to a 37-16 overall mark this season, including a 16-2 SoCon ledger her squad won every league series, including four sweeps. Breneman’s squad has exceled in all three phases of the game, pacing the SoCon in several hitting and pitching categories and ranking second in the league with a .963 fielding percentage. The Spartans have hit a program-record and league-leading 95 home runs this season, and lead the league in slugging percentage (.528), on-base percentage (.361), runs (306), hits (389), RBIs (285), doubles (71) and walks (165), among other things. In the circle, UNCG paces the league in wins (37), strikeouts (326) and innings pitched (363 2/3) and ranks second in ERA (2.69) and opponent batting average (.229). UNCG claimed at least one SoCon weekly award in eight of the 13 weeks in the season and had a monthly winner in all three months of the 2022 campaign that have been awarded so far.
 
UNCG led the league with seven all-conference selections, including a SoCon-best five on the first team in Scott, her batterymate Delaney Cumbie, infielder Maycin Brown and outfielders Grace Loftin and Makenna Matthijs. Infielder Samantha Lagrama and designated player Jordan Gontram were second-team picks, while Loftin and pitcher Reese Byrd also earned all-freshman honors for UNCG.
 
Samford, Chattanooga and Western Carolina had two first-team picks each, with Tedder and Newcomb representing the Bulldogs, infielder Emily Coltharp and designated player Reagan Armour representing the Mocs and infielder Bailey Huneycutt and utility/pitcher Savannah Rice representing the Catamounts.
 
Furman catcher Riley Ludlam and Mercer outfielder Rebeca Laudino round out the first team.
 
ETSU and Samford had three second-team selections apiece, while the Bulldogs easily led the league with five all-freshman selections, three of which also earned all-conference honors in Newcomb, second-team pitcher Jordyn Partain and second-team outfielder McKayla Cothran.
 
The Southern Conference Softball Championship gets underway Wednesday at the UNCG Softball Stadium in Greensboro, North Carolina. The double-elimination tournament runs through Saturday, with each game slated to be broadcast live on ESPN+.
 
Player of the Year
Mary Katherine Tedder, Gr., SS, Samford
 
Pitcher of the Year
Morgan Scott, Jr., RHP, UNCG
 
Freshman of the Year
McKenzie Newcomb, RHP, Samford
 
Coach of the Year
Janelle Breneman, UNCG
 
First Team
P – Morgan Scott, Jr., UNCG
P – McKenzie Newcomb, Fr., Samford
C – Riley Ludlam, Jr., Furman
C – Delaney Cumbie, Sr., UNCG
INF – Maycin Brown, Jr., UNCG
INF – Mary Katherine Tedder, Gr., Samford
INF – Emily Coltharp, Jr., Chattanooga
INF – Bailey Huneycutt, Sr., Western Carolina
OF – Rebeca Laudino, Jr., Mercer
OF – Grace Loftin, Fr., UNCG
OF – Makenna Matthijs, Gr., UNCG
DP or UT/Non-P – Reagan Armour, So., Chattanooga
UT/P – Savannah Rice, Jr., Western Carolina
 
Second Team
P – Sierra Tufts, So., Furman
P – Jordyn Partain, Fr., Samford
C – Tori Ash, Sr., Mercer
INF – Cameron Young, Fr., ETSU
INF – Diamond Williams, Jr., Mercer
INF – Samantha Lagrama, Sr., UNCG
INF – Timberlyn Shurbutt, Sr., Samford
INF – Myra Twitty, Sr., Western Carolina
OF – Andrea Sarhatt, Sr., ETSU
OF – Kelly Warren, R-Sr., ETSU
OF – Ashlee Lykins, So., Furman
OF – McKayla Cothran, Fr., Samford
OF – Brooklynn Brewington, Jr., Western Carolina
DP or UT/Non-P – Jordan Gontram, Gr., UNCG
 
 
All-Freshman
Cameron Young, 3B, ETSU
Caitlin Goldwait, OF, Furman
Hannah Pitts, P, Mercer
Reese Byrd, P, UNCG
Grace Loftin, OF, UNCG
McKayla Cothran, OF, Samford
Gwynnie Hornibrook, DP, Samford
McKenzie Newcomb, P, Samford
Jordyn Partain, P, Samford
Sarah Squillace, 2B, Samford
Acelynn Sellers, 1B, Chattanooga