Cullowhee, N.C. – Preseason preparations for the Western Carolina baseball team continue on the tundra that is Childress Field / Hennon Stadium during this winter's cold snap, ramping up ahead of the mid-February opening day in #CatamountCountry. Across the country, conference-by-conference preseason predictions are being released, including an outside look at the 2026 Southern Conference baseball season.
 
Perfect Game (perfectgame.org) released its preseason thoughts on the SoCon this week, listing a 15-member preseason all-conference team, while D1Baseball unveiled its thoughts on the SoCon preseason poll and individual award winners.
 
Western Carolina landed three players on the Perfect Game preseason All-SoCon team, led by fifth-year senior shortstop Trent Turner, and included redshirt sophomore outfielder Wyatt Stanley and starting pitcher, senior left-hander Davis Wright.
 
Turner returns for a fifth collegiate season, and third in a Catamount uniform. Twice listed on the Brooks Wallace Award watch list and voted a team captain for a second-straight year, Turner has batted .313 over the last two seasons, including a career-best .325 a season ago, where he finished two-thirds of the way towards the WCU Triple Crown. The Waynesville, N.C., product was named to the SoCon All-Defensive team in 2025.
 
Stanley, who is expected to make the move to the outfield after anchoring the infield at first base a season ago, was a first-team All-SoCon selection and SoCon All-Freshman team honoree last year. His success carried over into the summer, earning all-star plaudits in the Coastal Plain League. The High Point, N.C., product batted .331 last year with 23 extra-base hits, including 18 doubles, a team-best three triples, and two homers.
 
One of two returning starting pitchers for the Catamounts, senior southpaw Davis Wright made 15 starts last year, posting five victories and a 4.50 collective ERA over a team-best 86.0 innings pitched. He led WCU with a Southern Conference-leading 88 strikeouts that included a league-best 30 strikeouts looking against just 26 total walks.
 
Samford had a league-best four selections on the PG squad, with WCU, Mercer, and VMI all with three selections each. ETSU and UNCG also put one player on the publication's honorary squad.
 
VMI's Bradley Garner was dubbed the SoCon Preseason Player of the Year by Perfect Game, with Samford RHP Mason Blasche selected as the SoCon Preseason Pitcher of the Year. Mercer redshirt freshman transfer Aidan Hayse was selected as the front-runner for the league's top freshman honor.
 
VMI received a second nod for SoCon Preseason Player of the Year from D1Baseball.com, as first baseman Grayson Fitzwater collected the top honor, with Blasche and Bulldog rookie pitcher Michael Fredette tagged as the league's Freshman of the Year.
 
In its preseason poll, D1Baseball listed Western Carolina seventh of the eight teams, just ahead of VMI. Samford was selected as the preseason favorite, followed by Mercer, The Citadel, ETSU, and UNCG, rounding out the top five, followed by Wofford, WCU, and VMI.
 
The official Southern Conference preseason all-conference team and poll from the league's head coaches is scheduled to be released on Thursday, Feb. 5.
 
Western Carolina is coming off a 30-28 regular-season finish last season, which included 10 victories in Southern Conference play and a fifth-seed finish in the conference tournament. WCU upended eighth-seeded VMI 15-1 in seven innings and upset No. 4 seed Mercer 10-3 before falling to top-seeded ETSU, 16-13, and nearly rallied past No. 3 seed The Citadel, 11-10.
 
Despite losing three players in last year's MLB Draft – the most by a SoCon team – with a fourth signing as an undrafted free agent, the Catamounts return 25 players from last year, including 13 letter-winning position players and 12 pitchers. Among the returners are seven position players with 31-or-more starts last season, including six regular position starters and a pair of starting pitchers.
 
The Catamounts also welcome 17 newcomers, including seven transfers – three redshirt sophomores, two juniors, a sophomore, and one graduate transfer – with five freshman position players, and five rookie pitchers to their 2026 roster.
 
Western Carolina opens the 2026 season with seven of its first eight games at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium as part of a 28-game home schedule. Season tickets are on sale now through the Catamount Athletics ticket office, located on the first floor of the Ramsey Center, by phone at (828) 227-2401, and online any time at CatamountSports.com/BuyTickets. Season tickets 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-back seats under cover beneath the press box.
 
WCU is also offering a special "Baseball and Bo's Flex Ticket" plan beginning on Thursday, Jan. 29. The flex plan includes 15 general admission ticket vouchers good for any Catamount baseball home game during the 2026 season and a coupon for four FREE Cajun filet biscuits from Bojangles in Sylva.

Additionally, single-game tickets go on sale to the public on Friday, Jan. 30, ahead of the season-opening weekend in mid-February.

On Sunday, Feb. 8, Catamount baseball will hold a morning intrasquad scrimmage beginning at 11 a.m., followed by the annual "Little Catamounts" youth clinic at Childress Field at 2:30 p.m., open to youth ages 6-12.
 
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).