Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina softball is just a few short days away from its season-opening doubleheader in Greensboro against North Carolina A&T on Wednesday, Feb. 11.
CatamountSports.com concludes its 2026 softball team preview ahead of the season, closing out with the outfielders to wrap up the four position groups for WCU.
Western Carolina's outfield is paced by a pair of preseason All-Southern Conference honorees in senior Rylee Butler and junior Sydney Dirks. The all-conference duo is joined by junior Becka Wonsick, along with sophomores Courtney Marks and Tatum Martin. Head coach Jim Clift welcomes a pair of newcomers to the outfield in 2026 in Emma Kindle (Tampa, Fla.) and Natalie Regan (Greer, S.C.).
Sydney Dirks, who's expected to see time across the diamond in 2026, finished 2025 second on the team with an impressive .309 batting average. She saw action in 51 games with 44 starts. The Mocksville, N.C. native finished with a team-best 10 home runs, and drove in 30 runs and scored 25, finishing second in both categories for the Catamounts.
Her 10 homers marked the first Catamount to reach double figures since 2022, when Bailey Huneycutt (15) and Myra Twitty (11) both slugged double-digit dingers. Dirks finished second on the team with 14 multi-hit games, including a career-best four base knocks against Tulsa in nonconference play, while also ranking second on the squad with nine multi-RBI games.
Rylee Butler, who returns to Catamount Country after joining WCU ahead of the 2025 season from in-conference foe Samford. She recorded 37 hits with eight doubles, finishing third on the squad with three big flies. She was one of four Catamounts to record a grand slam, doing so in nonconference play against Tulsa.
The Tuscaloosa, Ala. native finished second amongst qualified WCU batters with a .376 on-base percentage, finishing the season with the second-longest reached base streak at 17 games. She was also a key piece defensively for WCU in 2025, tallying a .955 fielding percentage while recording numerous key catches to save runs throughout the season.
The first of two sophomores is Courtney Marks. The Wesley Chapel, Fla. native appeared in 50 games in her debut season at WCU with 49 starts, mostly in center field. She batted .279 with 22 runs scored, 39 hits, and nine RBI, while adding two doubles to her stat line and also tallied 18 walks.
Marks finished second on the team with 13 stolen bases, and also recorded a team-best nine sacrifice bunts, fifth-most in the single-season record book and the most sac bunts by a Catamount since 2019. She finished with eight multi-hit games, including a trio of three-hit games coming against Presbyterian (March 1 & 4), along with Gardner-Webb (March 18) as she logged a .989 fielding percentage, fielding .976 in league action.
The final returner is rising sophomore Tatum Martin, who saw action in 18 games during her first year at WCU with a pair of starts in left field. The Denver, N.C. native picked up seven hits, including a three-run double against chromatic rival Furman after her first base knock coming against nationally-ranked Georgia.
Martin scored three runs with a pair of walks and tallied first career steal vs N.C. Central on March 11. Had pinch-hit opportunities in 13 games and recorded a perfect fielding percentage in limited opportunities in the outfield.
Newcomer Natalie Regan finished her prep career with a .463 career batting average, including an eye-popping .611 average as a junior, slugging 1.222 at Riverside High. She garnered all-region honors in all four years and received all-state recognition as a junior.
Regan was twice named first-team Greer All-Area, while also receiving the Best Offensive Player award on multiple occasions. As a senior, Regan was named to the Greenville News Upstate's Top Softball Players of the regular season.
"Natalie Regan is a great defensive outfielder with excellent instincts and range. She brings another strong lefty bat to the lineup and hits for average, adding valuable balance to our offense," said Clift.
The other newcomer to the outfield grass is Emma Kindle, out of Tampa, Fla. She recorded a .310 batting average with 38 stolen bases in her high school career, achieving an impressive .348 average as a senior. Kindle swiped double-digit bases in three of her four prep seasons. She was a two-time first-team Western Conference selection and earned the defensive award as a junior. She also garnered the Heart of a Champion and Warrior Award during her senior season.
"Emma Kindle is a versatile defender who can play just about anywhere on the field and brings dynamic speed to our lineup. We're excited to see how her athleticism translates at the plate and the impact she can make offensively," said Clift.
The Catamounts begin the 2026 season with a doubleheader on Wednesday, Feb. 11, against North Carolina A&T in Greensboro. After the opening day, WCU heads to the Low Country Classic for a three-day, five-game tournament, facing Penn, tournament host College of Charleston, Akron, and UConn starting on Friday, Feb. 13.
WCU opens its home schedule in doubleheader fashion against Winthrop on Tuesday, Feb. 17, at the on-campus Catamount Softball Complex. Admission to each of WCU's home games throughout the 2026 season is free of charge, courtesy of First Bank.
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