CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Five members of the Western Carolina University softball program were selected among an elite list of NCAA Division I student-athletes on Tuesday afternoon as seniors Jeralynn Wells and Savannah Baldwin, along with junior Makenzie Martin and sophomores Kennedy Stewman and Taylor Waitley were each named to the 2024 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District Team.
WCU's five honorees this year are the most in a single season in program history and marks the second straight season with multiple selections.
The 2024 Academic All-District® softball Teams, selected by College Sports Communicators, recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes softball honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, and NAIA. Academic All-District® honorees advance to the CSC Academic All-America® ballot. First-, second- and third-team Academic All-America® honorees will be announced on June 5, 2024.
Senior outfielder Jeralynn Wells holds a 3.87 cumulative grade point average as a nutrition and dietetics major. She played in 52 games while making 50 starts as a mainstay in the outfield, patrolling centerfield throughout the 2024 campaign. In her career, she has twice been selected for the SoCon Academic Honor Roll and was a SoCon Commissioner's medal honoree. She received a SoCon Presidential Postgraduate Scholarship a few weeks ago.
A product of Menifee, Calif., Wells capped her WCU career with her best power season, totaling 46 hits including eight home runs and a pair of doubles with 27 runs scored and 27 RBI. She was also second on the team with 13 stolen bases and finished second with 12 multi-hit games, including four three-hit games with two of those coming against SoCon foes Furman and Mercer. Wells finished fifth in the program's career record book with 23 stolen bases.
Senior outfielder Savannah Baldwin carries a 3.98 GPA while double majoring in psychology and integrated health sciences with a pre-professional concentration. Baldwin joined Wells being honored by the SoCon with the Presidential Postgraduate Scholarship this year. Baldwin was a multi-time honoree in the league's academic honor roll and commissioners medal while being named to Western Carolina's dean's and chancellor's list multiple times in her Catamount career.
Baldwin was fourth on the team with a .294 batting average, scoring 24 runs and the second-most hits on the squad with 52 base knocks. The Bessemer City, N.C., product posted a team-high 12 doubles, seventh-most in the WCU single-season program record book, while also tying for fifth in the league. Baldwin hit a team-high tying eight home runs and drove in a team-best 39 RBI. She posted a program record with five sacrifice flies. Highlighted by a season-high three base hits against North Carolina Central, Baldwin finished with 13 multi-hit games and posted a career-best four RBI against Presbyterian in a nonconference win on March 12. Baldwin closed out her Catamount career with a .310 average in SoCon play with four doubles and four homers.
Junior Makenzie Martin has a 3.95 GPA as an Integrated Health Sciences major. This year, she repeated on the CSC All-District team selection. The Seneca, S.C. native has earned multiple time honors on the Chancellor's List and Dean's List at WCU while also garnering multiple SoCon honor roll and commissioner medal award.
Martin posted her best performance of the 2024 season in a must-win game against Furman in the SoCon Championship as she tossed 5.1 innings, holding the Paladins to one run scored enroute to the Catamounts advancing to the double-elimination bracket. She followed that up with 4.0 innings, allowing one earned run against Samford in the SoCon tournament. On the year, Martin saw action in 25 games, making 18 starts, tossing 82.0 innings with three complete games against Gardner-Webb, ETSU, and Radford. Martin set a new career-high in strikeouts on several occasions, coming against Kent State and Samford. She started at home against #7 Tennessee, tossing two scoreless frames.
Sophomore first baseman Kennedy Stewman holds a 3.82 GPA as a double major in Business Administration and law marketing. In the sophomore's brief career in Cullowhee, Stewman has already been honored by the SoCon on the league's honor roll and commissioner's medal. The Sylva, N.C. product has also been named to WCU's Dean's and Chancellor's list.
Stewman appeared in 52 games with 49 starts, most of which came as the Sylva native served as WCU's first baseman. She batted .250 on the season with 14 runs scored, 33 hits, and 16 RBI. Stewman finished in a tie for third on the team with seven doubles and added three big flies to her stat line. She tallied six multi-hit contests, including four in SoCon action against Furman (twice), Wofford, and ETSU. Stewman recorded homers in a run-rule win over North Carolina Central and mountain-foe Appalachian State and rounded it out with a blast in the home finale weekend against Chattanooga.
Catcher Taylor Waitley posted a 4.0 GPA as a biology and forensic sciences double major. The Catamount backstop has been named to the conference's honor roll and received the league's commissioner's medal for GPA. She's also received multiple honorees on the Chancellor and Dean's list from WCU.
Waitley posted a .253 seasonal batting average with 11 runs scored, 24 hits, and 12 RBI as she played in 42 games with 37 starts – 31 of those coming behind the plate for WCU. The Laurinburg, N.C. product recorded three doubles, one triple, and a homer while drawing 12 walks. She added five sacrifices and a pair of sacrifice flies throughout the 2024 campaign. She played five multi-hit games, including three in SoCon against Mercer, UNCG, and Chattanooga. Waitley hit her first collegiate homer against Mercer in walk-off fashion to give head coach Jim Clift a career win 250. She finished the season with a .310 average in conference action, including four extra-base hits.
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WCU Academic All-District Team Honorees
2013: Haley Pace
2014: Taylor Sigmon
2015: Taylor Sigmon
2016: Taylor Sigmon
2017: Madison Armstrong
2018: Madison Armstrong
2019: Madison Armstrong
2020: Erica Hayes
2023: Jayme Eilers, Natalie Henry, Makenzie Martin, Samantha Reele
2024: Savannah Baldwin, Makenzie Martin, Jeralynn Wells, Taylor Waitley, Kennedy Stewman
