Hayden Dye joins Graves on softball staff as graduate assistant
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman head softball coach Michael Graves has announced the hiring of former consensus All-American Hayden Dye as the program’s new graduate assistant coach.
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman head softball coach Michael Graves has announced the hiring of former consensus All-American Hayden Dye as the program's new graduate assistant coach.
Dye spent the last four seasons with the Carson-Newman softball team, garnering All-America, All-Region and All-SAC honors. She was named a D2CCA first-team All-American and an NFCA third-team All-American in 2025.
"I'm glad that we could make it work to keep Hayden around the club another year. She has a lot of experience and an incredible knowledge of the game," Graves said. "She is an extremely intelligent young lady who is self-motivated and already coming up with ideas to help us both on and off the field."
In 2025, she became the 24th player to earn All-America honors for the Carson-Newman softball program, the most in the history of the South Atlantic Conference. She is C-N's first first-team All-America since Macauley Bailey was presented a first-team honor by the NFCA in 2022. Dye was Carson-Newman's first D2CCA first-team All-American since 2015, when Elayna Siebert and Bre Lockett were both first-team honorees from the organization.
Dye finished her career with 198 starts – 11th most in school history, and ranks sixth all-time in career doubles (49) and RBI (166), eighth in hits (219) and home runs (27) and ninth all-time in runs scored (149). She is also the program record holder for career sacrifice flies with 13.
"We have a lot of young ball players coming in that are going to have to step in and contribute immediately," Graves said. "Having someone like Hayden there with them every day will give them a great resource from someone who has been through and was very successful at what they are going to take on.
The Knoxville, Tennessee native hit .428 in her senior season with six bombs and 44 RBI. She socked 17 doubles – the 10th most in a season in school history. She closed the year fourth in doubles, seventh in the conference in batting average and 13th in runs batted in.
In 2024, Dye hit .409 this season with 14 doubles, two triples, 12 home runs, and drove in 57 runs. She finished the regular season sixth in the conference in batting average and fourth in runs batted in. Her 12 home runs were also sixth in the conference. Dye produced 17 multi-hit games, including her first career four-hit game against Coker. Dye's 57 RBI are the ninth-most for a single season in school history, while her 12 home runs are tied for ninth in a single season in school history.
Dye started sluggishly for her sophomore campaign, hitting just .059. However, the Powell product burst forth from her slump to hit .341 in March and .319 in April. She wrapped up the season hitting .264 with three doubles, two triples and three home runs while driving in 18. She picked up an SAC All-Tournament nod as well.
A fearsome hitter as a freshman, Dye hit .314 for the year while starting all 53 games for C-N. She drove in 47 runs, the second most among freshmen in the South Atlantic Conference. She had 15 doubles, three triples and six home runs. Dye matched a single-game school record when she bashed three doubles against Florida Tech.
