Spartanburg, S.C. – Western Carolina sophomore infielder Lily Bell was today named first-team Preseason All-Southern Conference as the league office Thursday announced its preseason honorary teams and predictions ahead of the 2025 softball season.

In addition to Bell's honor, the Catamounts were picked sixth in the 2025 SoCon Preseason Poll, voted by the league's coaches. Despite the middle-third prognostication, WCU was one of three teams to earn a first-place vote in the league's selections.

Bell totaled a school-record 72 base hits to rank second in the SoCon last season as part of a historic freshman season. She scored 41 runs which placed her fourth in the league and tied for fifth in WCU's single-season record book. The Woodstock, Ga. native also swiped a conference-best 34 bases to grab the single-season program record for stolen bases. Her team-leading .387 seasonal batting average finished the regular season tied for the second-best in the conference.

Last February, Bell closed the season's opening month with a 12-game hitting streak that saw her average climb over 250 points during the streak to crest at a season-high .431. In that stretch, the freshman phenom 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 run. Including home games only during the 2024 season, Bell hit .508 (32-for-63) with 14 runs scored and 10 thefts to pace all Catamounts. 

Bell also recorded a team-long 17-game reached base safely streak to accompany her team-best 12-game hit streak. She finished the year with a team-high 22 multi-hit games in 2024.

Bell was 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 year. 

Chattanooga and Samford led the league with five preseason all-conference selections apiece, with ETSU infielder Cameron Young garnering SoCon Preseason Player of the Year honors. The league's coaches picked Mocs' pitcher Peja Goold as the preseason Pitcher of the Year.

Defending SoCon tournament champion Chattanooga was tabbed as the preseason favorite by the coaches with 48 points and six first-place votes. UNCG was picked second in the poll with 39 points and a first-place vote.

Mercer received 30 points and was slotted third, followed by Samford (28) and Wofford (25) in fourth and fifth, respectively. WCU earned 23 points and a first-place vote to claim the sixth spot in the rankings, followed by Furman with 19 points and ETSU with 12 points to round out the eight-team preseason poll.

Bell and the Catamounts open the 2025 season on Friday, Feb. 7, at the River City Leadoff hosted by North Florida in Jacksonville, Fla. Western Carolina raises the curtain on tournament play and the season against Jacksonville on Friday at 11:30 a.m. before facing the host Ospreys at 4:30 p.m. The Catamounts hold the same opponent schedule on Saturday with start times of 2 p.m. against the Dolphins and 7 p.m. against UNF before battling the hosts on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. to wrap up the opening weekend.

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Preseason Poll
Team (First-Place Votes) Points

Preseason Player of the Year
Cameron Young, ETSU, Sr., IF
 
Preseason Pitcher of the Year
Peja Goold, Chattanooga, Jr.
 
Preseason First-Team All-SoCon
P          Peja Goold, Chattanooga, Jr.
P          Margaret Axelson, Wofford, Jr.
C          Logan Champion, Samford, Sr.
IF         Cameron Young, ETSU, Sr.
IF         Tori Hedgecock, Mercer, Sr.
IF         Lily Bell, Western Carolina, So.
IF         Kate Platte, Wofford, R-So.
OF       Caitlin Goldwait, Furman, Sr.
OF       Grace Loftin, UNCG, Sr.
OF       Camryn Cernuto, Chattanooga, Sr.
DP       Olivia Shaw, SAM, So.
 
Preseason Second-Team All-SoCon
P          Grace Taylor, Mercer, Jr.
P          Jordyn Partain, Samford, Sr.
C          Betsy Eatmon, UNCG, So.
IF         Riley Nayadley, ETSU, Sr.
IF         Sarah Squillace, Samford, Sr.
IF         Olivia Lipari, Chattanooga, Sr.
IF         Kailey Snell, Chattanooga, Gr.
OF       Brylee Mesusan, ETSU, Jr.
OF       McKayla Cothran, SAM, Sr.
OF       Baileigh Pitts, Chattanooga, Jr.
DP       Sylvia Burroughs, Furman, Jr.
DP       Jorde Chartrand, UNCG, Sr.