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Softball Denise Gideon, Director of Media Relations

Huneycutt Tabbed SoCon Player of the Year; Clift SoCon Coach of the Year

Combined six Catamounts were recognized by conference

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Western Carolina softball claimed two of the top annual honors today as the Southern Conference released its 2021 postseason awards. Junior Bailey Huneycutt was named the SoCon Player of the Year and head coach Jim Clift was tabbed Coach of the Year by his peers as a combined six Catamounts were recognized ahead of this week's conference tournament.
 
In addition to earning the league's top player honor, Huneycutt was dubbed first-team All-SoCon at shortstop and was joined on the first team by pitcher Jayme Eilers and catcher Kailey McNeil. Eilers also received SoCon All-Freshman team accolades along with fellow pitcher Savannah Rice and outfielder Jeralynn Wells.
 
Student-athletes that would have been eligible for all-freshman consideration last year before the season was curtailed by the coronavirus pandemic were eligible to be considered for this season's all-freshman awards, which pertains to WCU's Eilers and Rice.
 
Huneycutt, a junior shortstop from Oakboro, N.C., is the first Catamount in program history to earn the league's player of the year honor. In her award-winning season, Huneycutt led the conference in batting average at .369 and paced the conference in home runs with 14. She also ranked second in hits (48) and runs scored (33), and concluded the regular season fourth in RBI (32). In conference-only games, Huneycutt hit .400 with 16 hits including three doubles and six home runs to boast a .925 slugging percentage, while scoring 13 runs.
 
Huneycutt tied the program record for most games reaching base with 30 during the season, sharing the lead with former Catamount Nikki Bost (2007). Huneycutt had nine multiple-hit and seven multiple-RBI games. She was a two-time SoCon Player of the Week and was named Player of the Month for April. 
 
Clift is just the second Catamount head coach to be named SoCon Coach of the Year, joining Megan Smith who collected the honor in the program's inaugural year in 2006. Clift guided a team that was picked to finish seventh in the preseason poll to a second-place finish and entered the final weekend of play in the running to win the regular season. The second-place finish is the second-highest in program history.
 
Under Clift's tutelage, the 25 wins this season are the third-most in program history, and the 12 conference wins representing the second-most. This season, the Catamounts won four conference series, sweeping three of the four. Western Carolina swept ETSU for the first time in the two programs' history and earned a three-game sweep of Furman for the first time since 2006. 
 
Eilers, a sophomore pitcher from Sterling, Ill., closed out the regular season with 12 wins in the circle and struck out 156 batters, the second-most in the SoCon. She tossed 159 innings and had five shutouts with 19 complete games and a 3.17 ERA. Eilers recorded the first no-hitter of her career – and was a walk away from a perfect game – in the Catamounts' 3-0 win over North Carolina A&T on April 29. In conference-only games, she had a record of 6-3 with three shutouts, a 2.83 ERA, tossing 59.1 innings, and striking out 61. Eilers was a two-time SoCon Pitcher of the Week and earned the pitcher of the month honor for April. 
 
McNeil, a senior catcher from North Wilkesboro, N.C., ranked second on the team in both batting average (.313) and hits (41). She also had seven doubles, eight home runs, scored 24 runs, and drove in 32. In conference-only games, she had a .298 batting average with 14 hits, 10 runs scored, two doubles, three home runs, and 13 RBI. She had 12 multiple hits and nine multiple-RBI games on the season. 
 
Rice, a sophomore pitcher from Marshall, N.C., had 11 wins on the season and was 6-2 against SoCon competition. For the season, she had a 3.96 ERA earning two shutouts and had 12 complete games making 27 appearances and starting 21. She tossed 122 innings and struck out 71. In conference-only games, she had a 3.75 ERA making 10 appearances and starting eight throwing 46.2 innings and fanning 30. She was named SoCon Pitcher of the Week on April 12. 
 
Wells, a freshman outfielder from Menifee, Calif., played in 48 games with 46 starts. She ended the regular season with a .292 batting average and 35 hits which ranked third on the team. She also scored 14 runs, legged out a double, and posted 10 RBI. In conference-only games, Wells had a .318 batting average with 14 hits, eight runs scored, and four RBI. 
 
Western Carolina is the No. 2 seed in the 2021 Southern Conference Championship which begins Thursday in Greensboro, N.C., on the UNCG campus and faces third-seeded Chattanooga in the first round. The Catamounts and Mocs will tangle at 3 p.m. with the game 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
 
 
 
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Players Mentioned

Jayme Eilers

#62 Jayme Eilers

P
5' 6"
Sophomore
R/R
Bailey Huneycutt

#35 Bailey Huneycutt

SS
5' 10"
Junior
R/R
Kailey McNeil

#17 Kailey McNeil

C
5' 7"
Senior
R/R
Savannah Rice

#00 Savannah Rice

P
5' 7"
Sophomore
R/R
Jeralynn Wells

#21 Jeralynn Wells

OF/UT
5' 6"
Freshman
R/R

Players Mentioned

Jayme Eilers

#62 Jayme Eilers

5' 6"
Sophomore
R/R
P
Bailey Huneycutt

#35 Bailey Huneycutt

5' 10"
Junior
R/R
SS
Kailey McNeil

#17 Kailey McNeil

5' 7"
Senior
R/R
C
Savannah Rice

#00 Savannah Rice

5' 7"
Sophomore
R/R
P
Jeralynn Wells

#21 Jeralynn Wells

5' 6"
Freshman
R/R
OF/UT