Cullowhee, N.C. – On the eve of Western Carolina's 2025 season-opening weekend against Georgia Southern in Statesboro, Ga., the CatamountSports.com position previews of Catamount baseball conclude today with a look at the Catamount outfielders entering the year.
 
The Catamounts return four players who saw time in the outfield a year ago, highlighted by junior Hayden Friese who was dubbed second-team preseason All-Southern Conference. WCU also benefits from the return of speedy sophomore Elijah Smith, hard-hitting Brody Raleigh, and a healthy Cole Jones, while also adding a junior transfer, one returning redshirt, and a trio of freshmen.
 
Entering the season, WCU must replace a pair of outfield regulars from a year ago including slugger Nate Stocum, who remains with the program this year as part of the coaching staff. Stocum developed into one of the top outfielders in Cullowhee over his four years, capping his career with a banner season where he hit .333 with a team-high 73 hits including 15 doubles and 20 home runs – fourth-best in the SoCon in 2024 and tied for the seventh-most in a year in program history. The Raleigh native started 53 of the team's 54 games last year all coming in left field.
 
Gone also is two-year, two-way player Kyle Riesselmann who split time in center field and on the mound. He hit .283 last spring with 20 extra-base hits including 13 doubles, a triple, and six round-trippers while driving home 34.
 
WCU's season opens with a three-game nonconference set against former Southern Conference foe Georgia Southern at J.I. Clements Stadium. The first pitch of Friday's season-opener against the Eagles is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with streaming audio provided by Georgia Southern.
 
Returning to the Lineup in '25:
Hayden Friese returns as one of WCU's most experienced outfielders having played in 58 games over the last two seasons. A preseason All-SoCon honoree in the outfield, the Eden, N.C., product hit a career-best .290 a season ago with nine extra-base hits including seven doubles and a pair of home runs. More importantly, though, Friese found his way aboard at a .442 clip, adding 40 freebies by drawing 34 walks and was plunked six times.
 
Friese is expected to help anchor the Catamount outfield while possibly moonlighting in the infield at first base in certain pitching alignments for WCU. The Catamount coaching staff expects the third-year player to make another jump like he did a season ago after benefiting from regular playing time.
 
Sidelined for all but 11 games a year ago – and not playing 100% in the limited time he saw the field – the Catamounts return an all-conference candidate from injury in redshirt junior Cole Jones. Hampered by a lower-body injury that ultimately put him on the shelf, the Champaign, Ill., product had two doubles and five RBI among the four hits he collected ahead of the injury the last time Catamount Nation saw him in action.
 
Lest the league forget, though, that a healthy Jones batted .308 over 40 games in 2023 with 16 extra-base hits including 10 doubles and six home runs. His 35 starts included 21 in the outfield between left and right. He also had a panache for the dramatic in delivering a walk-off, run-scoring single in a win over Radford, sparked WCU's seven-run, ninth-inning rally in a win at Mercer with a three-run homer, and delivered a two-out, two-run double in capping a four-run rally against Wofford in the latter innings.
 
Looking back, Jones played three seasons at Parkland College including the COVID-19-shortened 2019-20 year where he compiled a .356 batting average including eight doubles, two triples, and four homers.
 
A pair of returning sophomores will also factor into playing time this spring in the form of Elijah Smith and a familiar Catamount family name legacy, Brody Raleigh. Smith played in 30 games as a true freshman with one start in centerfield where WCU caught a glimpse of its future a season ago. Utilized mostly for a late-game pinch-runner, Smith did see some time defensively in the field where he recorded 20 putouts. His speed is a tremendous asset for the Catamounts both offensively and defensively in covering ground in the outfield.
 
A familiar surname in the history of Western Carolina baseball, Brody Raleigh returns for his second season in the Purple & Gold. The son of former Catamount slugger Matt Raleigh and nephew of former bash-brother and head coach Todd Raleigh, Brody played in 13 games as a rookie with seven pinch-hit appearances. Though still in search of his first collegiate base hit over the limited AB's, he drew a trio of walks including a bases-loaded, run-scoring free pass against mountain-rival UNC Asheville for his first career RBI.
 
Rounding out the five returners is redshirt Yates Sikes, a High Point, N.C., product who did not see the field a year ago in taking a redshirt. The former all-conference and All-State product from High Point Christian is fully expected to compete for playing time early as the Catamounts rotate outfielders looking for the best combination across the trio of fields.
 
New to the Pride in '25:
A junior transfer and three freshmen were added to the Catamount lineup during the off-season in building talented depth for both now and the future. Alan Beck and his staff added junior transfer Brayden Corn from USC Union, the same program that lent Trent Turner to the Purple & Gold ahead of last season, and three true freshmen in Tyler Sumner (Mooresville, N.C.), Caden Haywood (Harrisburg, N.C.), and Alex Robinson (Denver, N.C.).
 
A local product from Hendersonville, Corn comes to Cullowhee among the most likely to contribute right away as a newcomer after playing in 94 games over two seasons at Union. He was a consistent hitter – batting .378 with 56 hits as a freshman and .379 with 55 knocks as a sophomore – and boasted a .638 slugging percentage coupled with a .464 on-base average that included 39 walks and 11 HBPs. He totaled 43 extra-base hits over two seasons including 26 doubles, a triple, and 16 home runs – nine coming a season ago.
 
Another familiar name to WCU baseball, Brayden is related to former Catamount catcher Jackie Corn (2007-08), who is now the head baseball coach at West Henderson High.
 
WCU's trio of freshmen outfielders look to get playing time early in the season to add the depth Beck and staff want across the diamond. Tyler Sumner, a four-year varsity letter winner out of Lake Norman High, won a gold medal with his 2023 North Carolina State Games team. Sumner and now teammate Caden Haywood competed on opposite sides as preps with Haywood attending Hickory Ridge High where he was a three-sport athlete in baseball, basketball, and football. Robinson batted .538 as a prep senior with nine home runs – tied for the most in the state – with 29 total RBI, while also pitching 34 innings with a 1.65 ERA.
 

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Western Carolina baseball – among the winningest programs in Southern Conference baseball history – enters the 2025 season looking for its SoCon-record 24th team championship. The Catamounts have won 13 regular-season titles and captured the tournament championship an additional 10 times. WCU has made 12 appearances all-time in the NCAA postseason including five-straight under former head coach Jack Leggett from 1985 through 1989.
 
Under third-year head coach Alan Beck, the Catamounts are poised to make another jump in 2025 coming off a third-place tie in the SoCon standings a season ago, finishing 28-26 overall with 14 wins in league play. WCU was picked sixth in the tight preseason SoCon coaches' poll entering the year as the preseason prognostications were released back on Feb. 6.
 
The Catamounts open their home schedule with a four-game homestand beginning Tuesday, Feb. 18 against USC Upstate in nonconference midweek action before hosting Big Ten foe Maryland on Feb. 21-23 at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium.
 
Both season and single-game 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 and $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.
 
Keep track of everything related to Catamount baseball and WCU Athletics through social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/CatamountSports), Twitter (@Catamounts, @CatamountBSB), and Instagram (wcu_catamounts, catamountbsb).