GREENSBORO, N.C. – Sophomore Morgan Scott was named the Southern Conference's Pitcher and Freshman of the Year when the 2021 postseason awards were released by the conference office Wednesday afternoon.
 
Scott's selection highlighted five UNC Greensboro (UNCG) players who earned All-SoCon recognition. In addition to Scott, senior Kayleigh Willis and redshirt junior Makenna Matthijs earned First Team honors. Senior Jasmine Palmer and sophomore Maycin Brown were named to the Second Team. Brown also earned a spot on the All-Freshman Team.
 
They combined to help UNCG win the SoCon regular season championship and finish with 31 victories, the 18th time in program history with at least 30 wins in a year. The Spartans hit a single-season program record 80 home runs, which is sixth in the nation.
 
Scott shined in the circle for the Spartans.
 
She led the conference with 17 victories and 177 strikeouts. Scott compiled a 2.11 earned run average, tossed 18 complete games, and had five shutouts. She had four games this season with double digit strikeouts. Scott struck out 14 batters in games against Elon and Furman. It was the third best single-game total in program history.
 
Over her final 10 appearances, Scott went 8-1 with seven complete games and a 0.98 earned run average. UNCG finished the regular season by winning 13 of its final 14 contests.
 
Matthijs was the league's most dominant and consistent performer during the season. She led the SoCon in total bases (104), hits (56), runs (43), and RBIs (41) while finishing second in home runs (12) and third in batting average (.361). Matthijs had 13 multi-hit games, including a four-hit performance at Chattanooga. She hit two home runs in a pair of games against Elon.
 
Matthijs was at her best when the Spartans needed her.
 
With UNCG having to sweep last weekend's series against Western Carolina to win the regular season title and host the SoCon Tournament, Matthijs shined by hitting .444 (4-of-9) with two home runs, five RBIs, and a walk. Her effort helped the Spartans beat the Catamounts by a score of 23-2 over the three games.
 
Willis was second in the SoCon in RBIs with 38, third with 10 home runs, and sixth in batting average (.348). Willis also scored 20 runs and had eight doubles. She had a game to remember against Mercer in which she finished with seven RBIs and smashed a pair of three-run home runs in that game. Willis, who had a season best 11-game hitting streak, had six multi-hit games and nine multi-RBI performances. She had three hits in games against Elon and Mercer.
 
A two-time SoCon Player of the Week, Palmer ranked fourth in the SoCon in runs scored (32) and fifth in total bases (76). She also hit .313, had 41 hits, which was second on the team, and 27 RBIs. Palmer had 11 multi-hit games along with eight multi-RBI contests. She also hit nine home runs and eight doubles.
 
Among some of Palmer's season highlights was hitting a pair of home runs against North Carolina A&T and finishing with three hits in a road game against Elon.
 
Brown was third on the team with a .326 batting average. She scored 27 runs and had 30 hits. Half of her hits went for extra bases as she had nine doubles and seven home runs. Brown finished with 24 RBIs. She was named SoCon Player of the Week on March 22.
 
Brown was also named the SoCon Player of the Month for March after hitting .500 (16-for-32) over 12 games. She had at least one hit in 10 of UNCG's 12 games played in March. Nine of her 16 hits went for extra base hits, including four home runs. Brown, who had a .579 on-base percentage and a 1.031 slugging percentage, also scored 13 runs and finished with the same amount of RBIs.
 
UNCG hosts Mercer in the first round of the SoCon Tournament on Thursday, May 13.
 
2021 SoCon Softball Awards and All-Conference Teams

Player of the Year
Bailey Huneycutt, Western Carolina, Jr., SS
 
Pitcher of the Year
Morgan Scott, UNCG, So.
 
Freshman of the Year
Morgan Scott, UNCG, P
 
Coach of the Year
Jim Clift, Western Carolina
 
All-SoCon First Team
P    –   Morgan Scott, UNCG, So.
P    –   Jayme Eilers, Western Carolina, So.
C    –   Kailey McNeil, Western Carolina, Sr.
INF –   Mackense Greico, Furman, R-So.
INF – Danielle Castleberry, Mercer, Sr.
INF –   Whitney Hinton, Samford, Sr.
INF –   Bailey Huneycutt, Western Carolina, Jr.
OF –   Micayla Rood, Mercer, Sr.
OF –   Makenna Matthijs, UNCG, Sr.
OF –   Hayleigh Weissenbach, Chattanooga, Gr.
DP –   Kayleigh Willis, UNCG, R-Sr.
 
All-SoCon Second Team
P    –   Kelly Schmidt, ETSU, R-Sr.
P    –   Ashlyn Donner, Mercer, So.
C    –   Kylie Toler, ETSU, R-Sr.
INF –   Maycin Brown, UNCG, So.
INF –   Jasmine Palmer, UNCG, R-Sr.
INF –   Timberlyn Shurbutt, Samford, Sr.
INF –   Emily Coltharp, Chattanooga, Jr.
OF –   Allie Jones, Mercer, Sr.
OF –   Amanda Briskin, Samford, Jr.
OF –   Ryan Brzozoski, Samford, Jr.
DP –   Riley Ludlam, Furman, So.
 
All-Freshman Team
Lilly Holston, ETSU
Claire Ginder, Furman
Annie Potter, Mercer
Maycin Brown, UNCG
Morgan Scott, UNCG
Grace Robertson, Samford
Courtney Ball, Chattanooga
Jayme Eilers, Western Carolina
Savannah Rice, Western Carolina
Jeralynn Wells, Western Carolina
 
* Student-athletes that would have been eligible for all-freshman and freshman of the year consideration last year before the season was curtailed by the coronavirus pandemic are eligible to be considered for this season's all-freshman and freshman of the year awards.