Cullowhee, N.C. – Headlined by Lily Bell earning Southern Conference co-Freshman of the Year, four Western Carolina softball players were recognized on Tuesday afternoon as the conference office released its postseason all-conference awards. Bell additionally garnered first-team All-SoCon plaudits and was joined by junior Tessa Juett, with freshman counterparts Sydney Dirks and Maya McPherson joining Bell on the SoCon All-Freshman team.
Bell earned first-team honors on the infield while Juett landed on the first-team all-conference team as the league's best utility/pitcher in the SoCon for 2024.
Bell is the first Catamount to earn first-year player honors since 2006 when Jenny Jackson garnered the honors. Sharing the top rookie honor with Samford's Olivia Shaw, 2024 was also a historic first for SoCon softball as the first pair of student-athletes to receive Co-Freshman honors in the same season.
Bell, McPherson, and Dirks became the first WCU representatives on the freshman team since the trio of Jayme Eilers, Savannah Rice, and Jeralynn Wells garnered the same honors in 2021. This year marks the fourth straight season that the Catamounts have had at least two players reach first-team All-SoCon honors, as Juett and Bell extended the four-year streak for the Catamounts.
A native of Woodstock, Georgia native, Bell burst onto the scene in 2024 as she totaled a team-high 65 hits to rank tied for third in SoCon, scored 35 runs, and posted 31 stolen bases to lead the conference. Her team-leading .378 seasonal batting average finished the regular season tied for the third-best in the SoCon. She also led WCU in SoCon play with a .368 average, totaling 28 hits, 16 runs scored, and 14 stolen bases.
Bell closed out the month of February, starting on a 12-game hit streak that saw her average climb over 250 points in the hit-streak up to a season-high .431. The freshman phenom in that stretch hit a torrid .571 (24-for-42) with eight runs scored and eight steals, totaling eight of her team-high 20 multi-hit games in the 12-game hit streak. Including home games only during the 2024 season, Bell posted an incredible stat line of .508 (32-for-63) with 14 runs scored and ten steals to pace all Catamounts.
Bell also tallied a team-high 16-game reached base streak along with a pair of seven-game hit streaks, including her current streak, which she carries into the SoCon Championship on Wednesday. She also has an active 14-game reached base streak. Bell has also cemented her name in the program's single-season record book already in her debut season in Cullowhee. She enters postseason play second in batting average (.378), third in hits (65), and second in stolen bases (31).
WCU's ace pitcher, Juett did it in the circle and at the plate throughout the year. She posted a team-high 13 victories, 153 strikeouts, and 16 complete games over 166.2 innings in the circle, all of which led all SoCon pitchers. She also posted a .333 average with seven doubles, two triples, and four homers at the plate. Juett was red-hot at the plate in conference play, hitting .457 with three doubles, four home runs, and a triple as she totaled conference-high tying six wins in the circle with a league-best 62 strikeouts over 72.1 innings.
At the dish in 2024, Juett posted seven multi-hit games, five of which came in conference play. Juett tallied the third-best average in SoCon play, which helped propel the Catamounts to a .295 team average in league play, good for third-best in the conference. She was one of two Catamounts to connect on two homers in the same game, accomplishing that feat in SoCon action in a run-rule win over UNCG.
The Berea, Ky. native was the ace of the Catamount pitching staff, appearing in 35 games in the circle, 24 of which served as starts. She tallied 13 wins to lead all SoCon pitchers and totaled a conference-high 153 strikeouts. She posted an impressive month of April with an 8-4 record over 13 outings, 11 starts, and nine complete games, tallying 79 strikeouts and limiting hitters to a .224 batting average against.
Juett garnered SoCon Pitcher of the Week honors in early April, where she made four appearances, including three starts over match-ups against North Carolina Central and ETSU. Juett posted a perfect 4-0 record as she tallied complete games in her three starts while recording 28 strikeouts and only allowing four earned runs. The opposition's batters posted a paltry .163 average over the 24.2 innings of work as the WCU ace allowed two doubles to opposing batters.
In the program's career record book, Juett moved into a tie for fourth with 26 wins, sixth in starts with 59, fifth in innings pitched at 381.1, and sixth in strikeouts with 315, becoming the sixth pitcher in program history to eclipse 300 strikeouts in her time in Cullowhee.
McPherson began her Catamount career with a bang, posting a .284 average, suitable for fourth best on the team with seven doubles and five homers, totaling the second most RBIs on the team with 21. The Lancaster, Calif. native was one of five Catamounts in SoCon play to eclipse a .300 average with a .302 mark with 19 hits, seeing four turned into doubles and a homer with 10 RBIs. She posted seven multi-hit games, with a season-high four coming in conference action last month against Wofford. She opened her season with a three-hit game against Austin Peay in WCU's season-opening tournament at Alabama State. McPherson saw four of her five homers come in Cullowhee, as she was one of three Catamounts with at least four homers at the Catamount Softball Complex.
Dirks joins classmates McPherson and Bell on the league's all-freshman team. The Mocksville, N.C. native finished her debut season in Cullowhee with a .273 average, recording seven doubles on 36 hits with three homers. She posted seven multi-hit games throughout the season, including three games with three hits, most recently in SoCon play against UNCG. Dirks connected on her first collegiate homer in home action during the first annual Catamount Classic coming against Kent State before adding a two-run blast three days later in a run-rule victory over Georgia State. Dirks connected on her third and final homer of the regular season in SoCon play against Furman with the first of three grand slams hit by a WCU batter throughout the campaign.
Infielder Brooklynn Maxwell from UNCG garnered SoCon Player of the Year honors, with Peja Goold from Chattanooga being named the league's top pitcher of the year. Shaw joined Bell from Samford in the Co-Freshman of the Year honors, while Chelsea Butler from league newcomer Wofford received Coach of the Year honors from her colleagues.
The Catamounts turn their attention to the 2024 SoCon Softball Championships, which begins Wednesday, May 8, in Greensboro and is hosted by UNCG. Western Carolina battles sixth-seeded Furman in a single-elimination game with the first pitch set for 1 p.m. The winner will advance into the double-elimination portion of the tournament that opens Wednesday evening against No. 3 seed Samford. Coverage of all the tournament games is available on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) and with live stats through CatamountSports.com.
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Player of the Year
Brooklynn Maxwell, Sr., INF, UNCG
Pitcher of the Year
Peja Goold, So., RHP, Chattanooga
Freshman of the Year
Olivia Shaw, DP, Samford
Lily Bell, 2B, Western Carolina
Coach of the Year
Chelsea Butler, Wofford
First Team
P – Peja Goold, So., Chattanooga
P – Margaret Axelson, So., Wofford
C – Logan Champion, Jr., Samford
INF – Cameron Young, Jr., ETSU
INF – Tori Hedgecock, Jr., Mercer
INF – Brooklynn Maxwell, Sr., UNCG
INF – Lily Bell, Fr., Western Carolina
OF – Brylee Mesusan, So., ETSU
OF – Ashlee Lykins, Jr., Furman
OF – McKayla Cothran, Jr., Samford
OF – Camryn Cernuto, Jr., Chattanooga
DP or UT/Non-P – Kendall Forsythe, Sr., Chattanooga
UT/P – Tessa Juett, Jr., Western Carolina
Second Team
P – Grace Taylor, So., Mercer
P – McKenzie Newcomb, Jr., Samford
P – Alyssa Lavdis, Jr., Chattanooga
C – Betsy Eatmon, Fr., UNCG
INF – Emma Dorval, Jr., Mercer
INF – Sarah Squillace, Jr., Samford
INF – Kaili Phillips, Gr., Chattanooga
INF – Kailey Snell, R-Jr., Chattanooga
OF – Alyssa Woods, Sr., Mercer
OF – Grace Loftin, Jr., UNCG
OF – Baileigh Pitts, So., Chattanooga
DP or UT/Non-P – Caitlin Goldwait, Jr., Furman
DP or UT/Non-P – Olivia Shaw, Fr., Samford
UT/P – Sara Muir, Jr., ETSU
All-Freshman
Ansley Chiang, 2B, Furman
Betsy Eatmon, C, UNCG
Katie Campbell, 1B, Samford
Olivia Shaw, DP, Samford
Lily Bell, 2B, Western Carolina
Sydney Dirks, SS, Western Carolina
Maya McPherson, 3B, Western Carolina
Abby Greenwood, P, Wofford
Kaytlin Greenwood, SS, Wofford
Megan Towery, OF, Wofford
