LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Carson-Newman sophomore catcher/designated player Macauley Bailey (Cross Plains, Tenn.) and junior shortstop Hayden Dye (Powell, Tenn.) have been named to the 2024 TUCCI/NFCA DII Player & Pitcher of the Year Watchlist, the NFCA announced Thursday afternoon.
Bailey and Dye are one of three pairs of teammates listed from the Southeast Region. North Georgia's Kristen Davis and Tybee Denton are both listed, as are Francis Marion's Alyssa Poston and Taylor Watford. Dye and Bailey are two of the five players from the South Atlantic Conference who made the cut. Bailey and King's Jessica Campbell are the only two players among the 15 listed from the Southeast Region who were honored last year as All-Americans.
This marks a third consecutive year where Carson-Newman has had two players named to the watch list. Bailey and SieAnna Cameron represented the Eagles in 2023, while Leah Sohm and Emily Harris were tabbed in 2022.
Bailey and Dye both have two of the most consequential bats in the South Atlantic Conference.
Bailey leads the South Atlantic Conference with 11 home runs (tied with teammate Brooke Matyasovsky) and ranks 13th nationally with her 11 blasts. She has moved into a tie for eighth on the career home run charts at C-N with 26 long balls all time.
Meanwhile, Dye has the highest slugging percentage in the league (.844) and the most RBI (38). Dye's .438 batting average is fourth in the conference. Bailey sits right behind Dye with 37 runs driven in this season.
The list is broken down into the eight NCAA Regions (Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast and West) with up to 15 student-athletes represented in each region. The list is compiled by the elected members of the NFCA Division II All-American Committee with one head coach representing each of the eight NCAA regions. To be eligible, a student-athlete's head coach must be a member.
Voted on by the NFCA's Division II All-American Committee, the 2024 Tucci/NFCA Player and Pitcher of the Year Award will be announced on May 27 following the conclusion of the NCAA Division II National Championships. All student-athletes are eligible for the end-of-the-season award and do not have to be on this list to be considered.
Bailey and Dye will go toe-to-toe with fellow watch list member Rachel Cutcher of Wingate Friday at noon. Coverage of the doubleheader will be available on the Eagle Sports Network at cneagles.com/live. A video stream can be found with a subscription to FloSports at cneagles.com/FloSB.
* Denotes 2023 NFCA All-American
Southeast Region
*MaCauley Bailey - C - So. - Carson-Newman
Abbie Behe - 2B - Sr. - Lander
*Jessica Campbell - OF - Sr. - King
Rachel Crutcher - P - Gr. - Wingate
Kristen Davis - P - Sr. - North Georgia
Tybee Denton - P - Sr. - North Georgia
Hayden Dye-SS - Jr. - Carson-Newman
Kylie Emmanuele - 3B - Sr. - Mount Olive
Miranda Holms - P - Sr. - Barton
Julia Mardigian - 2B-Jr. - Lenoir-Rhyne
Brooke Miller - 2B - Sr. - Columbus State
Sophie Mooney - 1B - Sr. - North Georgia
Alyssa Poston - P - Sr. - Francis Marion
Claire Smeltzer - OF - Sr. - Tusculum
Taylor Watford - 1B - So. - Francis Marion
