Cullowhee, N.C. – As an encore to her co-Freshman of the Year and first-team selection a season ago, Western Carolina sophomore standout Lily Bell was named first-team All-Southern Conference again for 2025, as announced Tuesday afternoon as the league released its postseason all-conference awards.
Bell becomes the third Catamount in school history to be named to the SoCon's first-team in multiple seasons, joining Bailey Huneycutt (2021-23) and Mollie Fowler (2007,09) to earn multiple honors for the Purple & Gold.
Bell's honor marks six straight award cycles that the Catamounts have placed at least one player on the SoCon's first-team all-conference, dating back to the 2019 season. *No awards were issued in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.*
Coming off a strong debut season, Bell replicated her efforts in 2025, finishing the regular season with a team-high 72 hits, 12 more than the second-place individual. She scored 45 runs to rank third in the SoCon and posted 27 stolen bases to tie for the top spot in the conference.
Her team-high .447 seasonal batting average finished the regular season in the top spot in the SoCon while ranking 18th in the NCAA. She's also 18th nationally in hits entering postseason play. She paced WCU in league play with a .444 average, totaling 28 hits, 18 runs, and nine stolen bases. Bell tallied the most hits in league action while tying for the top spot in batting average.
The Woodstock, Ga. native has been a model of consistency throughout 2025, tallying at least one hit in 39 games and 26 multi-hit contests. Bell also reached base safely in 47 of 50 games, registering a team-high 19-game reached base safely streak. She enters Wednesday's tournament with hits in 20 of her last 24 games. She strung together a pair of six-game hitting streaks, including her current streak, which she carries into Wednesday's SoCon Championship.
Bell has continued to etch her name in the program's single-season record book for the second-straight season in Cullowhee. She begins the SoCon tournament with the program's top batting average (.447) and on-base percentage (.516), tied for first in hits (72), third in stolen bases (27), and fourth in runs (45). Earlier this season, Bell became the program's career leader for stolen bases, reaching 61 career steals in her time with the Catamounts.
All eight Southern Conference teams had representation on the two postseason all-conference teams released on Tuesday, with six earning a first-team selection. UNCG and Chattanooga led all schools with eight selections on the all-conference team, followed by Samford with seven honors for six players, and Wofford tallied six. The Terriers put a league-best three on the SoCon All-Freshman team.
Senior utility player Olivia Lipari from Chattanooga garnered the 2025 SoCon Player of the Year honors, with her teammate Peja Goold receiving the league's top pitcher honors for the second straight year. Macy Michael from UNCG earned the Freshman of the Year honors, while Frank Reed from Chattanooga received the Coach of the Year honor from his colleagues.
Western Carolina (22-30, 6-14 SoCon) turns its attention to this week's 2025 Southern Conference Softball Championship, presented by One Spartanburg. Hosted at Wofford's Hope Field, the quest for the championship begins Wednesday, May 7, with the championship game set for Saturday, May 10.
Sixth-seeded WCU faces No. 7 seed ETSU in a single-elimination matchup on Wednesday at 1 p.m. for the right to face No. 3 Samford at 7 p.m. in Spartanburg later that same day.
All games throughout the championship are slated for ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats provided at CatamountSports.com. (SoCon Tournament Central)
Keep track of everything related to Catamount softball and WCU Athletics through social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/CatamountSports), Twitter (@Catamounts, @CatamountSB), and Instagram (wcu_catamounts, catamountsb), or go to www.CatamountSports.com.
Player of the Year: Olivia Lipari, Sr., UTL, Chattanooga
Pitcher of the Year: Peja Goold, Jr., RHP, Chattanooga
Freshman of the Year: Macy Michael, INF, UNCG
Coach of the Year: Frank Reed, Chattanooga
All-SoCon First Team
P – Peja Goold, Jr., Chattanooga
P – Margaret Axelson, Jr., Wofford
C – Betsy Eatmon, So., UNCG
C – Hope Ingle, Sr., Wofford
INF – Tori Hedgecock, Sr., Mercer
INF – Olivia Shaw, So., Samford
INF – Olivia Lipari, Sr., Chattanooga
INF – Lily Bell, So., Western Carolina
OF – Hallie Langford, R-Sr., Mercer
OF – Kaylyn Belfield, Jr., UNCG
OF – Grace Loftin, Sr., UNCG
DP or UT/Non-P – Olivia Shaw, So., Samford
UT/P – Jorde Chartrand, Sr., UNCG
All-SoCon Second Team
P – Taylor Long, Jr., Chattanooga
P – Abby Greenwood, So., Wofford
C – Sietske Drijvers, Jr., Mercer
INF – Cameron Young, Sr., ETSU
INF – Macy Michael, Fr., UNCG
INF – Grier Bruce, Sr., Samford
INF – Sarah Squillace, Sr., Samford
OF – Caitlin Goldwait, Sr., Furman
OF – McKayla Cothran, Sr., Samford
OF – Camryn Cernuto, Sr., Chattanooga
DP or UT/Non-P – Sylvia Burroughs, Jr., Furman
UT/P – Sara Muir, Sr., ETSU
SoCon All-Freshman Team
Hannah Rivers, INF, Mercer
Grace Jones, P/INF, Mercer
Hadley Gardner, OF, UNCG
Macy Michael, INF, UNCG
Joi Hubbard, UTL, Samford
Ella Nelson, INF, Samford
Lexi Cooley, UTL, Chattanooga
Natalya Salo, P, Wofford
Rivers Sampson, OF, Wofford
Brianna Stanley, INF, Wofford
