Bailey, Cameron tally NFCA All-Region laurels
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Carson-Newman designated player Macauley Bailey (Cross Plains, Tenn.) and outfielder SieAnna Cameron (Alcoa, Tenn.) have earned spots on the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Southeast Region teams, the organization announced Wednesday afternoon.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Carson-Newman designated player Macauley Bailey (Cross Plains, Tenn.) and outfielder SieAnna Cameron (Alcoa, Tenn.) have earned spots on the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Southeast Region teams, the organization announced Wednesday afternoon.
Bailey earns a spot on the first team, while Cameron makes the organization's second team for a second straight year.
Bailey is the first freshman to earn all-region laurels since Lacie Rinus and Abby Fiessinger both did so in 2017. Bailey is the first player in South Atlantic Conference history to take home both Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year in the same season.
Carson-Newman designated player Macauley Bailey (Cross Plains, Tenn.) was unveiled as both the league's Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year in the annual release of postseason awards Wednesday afternoon.
Bailey becomes Carson-Newman's 19th SAC Player of the Year and sixth Freshman of the Year. While Bailey is the first Eagle to take home Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year in the same season, former C-N All-American Lacie Rinus brought home Freshman of the Year and Pitcher of the Year honors in 2017. Rinus also went on to be named SAC tournament MVP that season.
The Cross Plains, Tenn.-native is the Carson-Newman's first Freshman of the Year honoree since Rinus won in 2017. She is the first Player of the Year since Rinus picked up that plaudit in 2018. Carson-Newman's 19 Player of the Year honorees are the most in the league.
Bailey has consistently been in the top five nationally throughout the season in RBI. She presently sits on 67, which is sixth in the nation both overall and but first in terms of games played. She is eight RBI away from matching Carson-Newman's Brittany Hefner and her single-season SAC and school record of 75.
She has driven in a run in 21 of her last 29 games and has 17 games this year where she has driven in multiple runs. Her 67 RBI are good for the fourth-most in a single-season in school history, and two away from third place and Hall of Famer Whitney Hickam (2008).
Bailey has set a litany of freshman records. She has the most RBI of any freshman in school history, as well as the most home runs (15), longest hitting streak (18) and the highest slugging percentage (.818). Her home runs are good for the second-highest single-season total in school history overall, while the hitting streak is tied for fourth and the slugging percentage sits in seventh.
From March 1 through April 11, Bailey hit successfully in 18 straight games. In that span she drove in a run in all but two games, collecting 32 RBI overall in that stretch.
Bailey was named SAC and TSWA Player of the Week in back-to-back weeks on March 12 and 19.
She enters the region tournament with a .426 batting average on 63 hits. She has 11 doubles, a triple and the 15 bombs.
Cameron finished the regular season second in the league in batting average with a .460 average. She sits at .444 entering the region tournament. Shockingly, her average dipped after hitting successfully in four out of five SAC tournament games with a pair of multi-hit efforts.
A Tucci/NFCA Player of the Year Watch List member, Cameron has a whopping 19 multi-hit efforts this season. She has 10 two-hit days, six three-hit efforts and her first three career four-hit days. Her four-hit games came against Tusculum (April 11), Newberry (March 18) and Shorter (Feb. 12). Cameron has only gone longer than seven at-bats without a hit just once this season, and she has only been hitless in consecutive games once.
Shockingly, Cameron's longest hitting streak this season is only six games long. However, she has four separate stretches of at least three straight games where she has tallied multi-hit efforts in each contest.
The junior has swiped 13 bases in 15 attempts to rank second on the team and eighth in the conference.
Ever the dangerous arm in center, she has been credited with a quartet of outfield assists.
Both Eagles will be on display Thursday at 3:30 when NCAA Southeast Regional play begins at 3:30 p.m. against third-seeded and 25th-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne.
