Cullowhee, N.C. – Despite the current winter vortex that is bringing Artic temperatures and wintry precipitation to the southeast, things continue to ramp-up for the rapidly approaching 2025 baseball season as preseason prognostications are starting to be unveiled. On Wednesday in its preseason preview series, Western Carolina landed two players on the Perfect Game All-Southern Conference team.
 
Junior right-hander Dusty Revis was selected preseason All-SoCon as a starting pitcher while also garnering the group's nod for SoCon Preseason Pitcher of the Year. He was joined by senior infielder Trent Turner on the preseason all-conference team as a middle infielder, both selected by the staff at Perfect Game.

 A transfer from Mars Hill ahead of the 2024 season, Revis made 19 appearances last spring including 17 out of the bullpen with a pair of starts. He is expected to transition into a starting role for the Catamounts in 2025 as one of 10 returning pitchers from a year ago. The Marion, N.C., product led the staff with seven victories last season, finishing 7-1 with one save and a 4.41 collective earned run average over 51 total innings of work.
 
A second-team All-Southern Conference selection as a reliever last season, Revis struck out 43 against just 19 walks, recording four-or-more strikeouts a combined six times with punchouts in 17 of his 19 seasonal appearances. He also induced a team-best nine double plays. Off the field, Revis was named to the 2023-24 SoCon Academic Honor Roll and collected 2024 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District team accolades.
 
The staff at Perfect Game listed the scouting report on Revis as "tremendous athlete and explosive mover; electric 92-95 mph heater, still untapped potential."
 
Turner has been a quiet leader for the Catamounts since transferring to Cullowhee from USC Union ahead of last season. He was one of players named team captains for 2025. A local product from Waynesville, Turner started all 54 games at shortstop a year ago in anchoring the left side of the infield with classmate Mason Holton. Turner was part of flipping 38 double-plays for the SoCon's top unit a season ago.
 
At the plate, Turner hit a steady .302 with his 71 base hits tying for second on the squad. He finished with 22 extra-base hits including 14 doubles – 16th in the SoCon – and hit eight home runs. Turner finished third on the team with 19 multi-hit games and multiple RBI 12 times.


On the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List for the nation's top shortstop, Turner was also selected to the 2024 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District team and named to the 2023-24 SoCon Academic Honor Roll.
 
The staff at Perfect Game listed the scouting report on Turner as "smooth reliable defender, strong arm with carry and accuracy; makes all the plays, middle of the order juice."
 
The official Southern Conference preseason poll and all-conference teams as voted on by the league's head coaches are tentatively scheduled to be released by the league office on Thursday, Feb. 6.
 
Western Carolina is coming off a third-place tie in last year's Southern Conference standings. The Catamounts under head coach Alan Beck improved their overall record by seven games between the 2023 and 2024 seasons, matching the team's most victories since 2021.
 
The Catamounts are slated for a preseason Purple / Gold Intrasquad Scrimmage followed by the annual Little Catamount Clinic for youth sixth-grade and younger on Sunday, Feb. 9. Start time on that Sunday is tentatively scheduled for 11 a.m., with the clinic anticipated to begin at 2:30 p.m.
 
WCU opens the 2025 season with a three-game nonconference series against former Catamount player and coach Rodney Hennon and the Georgia Southern Eagles at J.I. Clements Stadium on Feb. 14-16. Beck and assistant coach Jeff Korte both coached alongside Hennon in Statesboro, Ga., prior to coming to Cullowhee ahead of the 2023 season.
 
The Catamounts open their home schedule on Tuesday, Feb. 18, against USC Upstate to begin a four-game homestand that includes a three-game set against Big Ten foe, Maryland, in the first meeting with the Terrapins since 2012.
 
Season tickets for WCU's 26-game home baseball slate at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium are on sale NOW and start at just $51 for adult general admission or $26 for youth general admission. Additional seating options include reserved field-level chair back seats and upper-reserved chair backs under cover beneath the press box. Tickets can be purchased in person through the first-floor Athletics Ticket Office in the Ramsey Center, by phone at (828) 227-2401, or online at CatamountSports.com/BuyTickets.

Single-game tickets are anticipated to go on sale on Tuesday, Jan. 28, three weeks ahead of the 2025 home-opener.

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