Bailey headlines four Eagles named to NFCA All-Region Teams
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – In one of the best seasons in recent history, four members of Carson-Newman earned NFCA All-Region honors, with Macauley Bailey (Cross Plains, Tenn.) making the first team, while Grace Gregory (White House, Tenn.), Malyiah Smith (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Addie Saunders (Radford, Va.) were second team.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – In one of the best seasons in recent history, four members of Carson-Newman earned NFCA All-Region honors, with Macauley Bailey (Cross Plains, Tenn.) making the first team, while Grace Gregory (White House, Tenn.), Malyiah Smith (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Addie Saunders (Radford, Va.) were second team.
Bailey began her Carson-Newman career with a trip to the NCAA Tournament and will finish it out the same way. The senior has put together another stellar season in her final chapter, batting a career-best .444, totaling seven home runs with 58 RBIs. Her 79 hits are the fifth-most in a single season and put her at 270 in her career, she needs four more to pass Libby Conley for the second-most in program history. She is Carson-Newman's all-time leader in home runs and RBIs, and earlier this year set the SAC record for career RBIs against Milligan.
"Macauley had another strong year for us and played yet another defensive position. She has been versatile and successful no matter where she plays," head coach Michael Graves said. "She has several C-N records that will probably stand for a long time. As great as she has been on the field, people don't realize how intelligent that young lady is, she might be better in the classroom than on the field."
In 2026, Bailey recorded her fourth All-SAC honor at a fourth different position, making the first team at first base. This is the fourth All-Region honor of her career.
Gregory transferred after a long journey that included three prior stops. Over the last month, the senior has been one of the most fearsome bats in the South Atlantic Conference. She is fourth on the team with a .406 batting average, second with 54 RBIs and has blasted a team-best 10 home runs. Her 22 doubles are a single-season record in Carson-Newman history. In conference games, she batted .466 with seven home runs and 28 RBIs. Gregory has put together 18 multi-hit games with 15 multi-RBI efforts. She was named First Team All-SAC at third base for her year.
"The energy and passion she has is contagious, the kid is a born leader. Once she got back into the swing of things, coming off her recovery, she has been almost unstoppable. She comes through in the clutch, she gets things going, and she is a wall on defense," Graves said. "Her commitment to making her teammates better, especially all of our freshmen, has been invaluable to our team on and off the field."
Against Catawba in the first round of the SAC Tournament, Gregory put together a historic performance. The senior was a perfect 5-for-5 with five runs scored and four RBIs. Gregory kick-started the Eagles with a three-run blast in the first and followed that up with four consecutive doubles. She set the program record with four doubles, which also ties the NCAA record for most doubles in a game, tied the program's best mark with five scored and had the second-best single-game total in C-N history with 12 total bases.
Smith burst onto the scene and has put together an outstanding freshman season. She has filled the void left by graduate assistant Hayden Dye at shortstop, winning SAC Freshman of the Year and earning first-team all-conference honors.
"Quite an honor for our little freshman. This is a loaded category in our region, and that speaks volumes about how good she is. I have said numerous times, if there is a better defensive shortstop in our region, I'd like to meet her," Graves said. "She works hard and always wants me to hit more at her. She is as talented as anyone that I have ever coached, she has all the tools."
The Knoxville native has tallied 81 hits, the fourth most in a single season at Carson-Newman. She is third on the team with a .414 batting average and 23 RBIs, reaching base at a .453 clip. Smith is just as dangerous on the bases, scoring 46 times, second-most on the team and leads C-N with 24 stolen bases. The freshman has posted 29 multi-hit games, featuring 11 three-hit performances.
Saunders is a product of endless hard work, continuously improving her game as the season progresses, and was rewarded by making the All-SAC First Team.
"I harp on discipline at the plate and being unselfish for your team. Nobody has bought into that more than Addie Saunders. That's not just me talking because her stats back it up," Graves said. "I'm not taking any credit because I harp on this to all of them. Addie bought in when others have not, did the work, and is now getting rewarded for it. If her teammates want to get better, they need to learn from Addie's success story."
The sophomore is second on the team with a .415 batting average, nearly a whole hundredth from her first year, and has shattered her freshman campaign numbers. She has collected 69 hits, including 12 extra-base hits, totaling 27 RBIs, and has flipped her strikeout-to-walk ratio, cutting her strikeouts in half and doubling her walks. Saunders has reached base safely in 24 of her last 26 games at the dish and has had a career-long 16-game on-base streak this season. The Radford, Virginia, native has 23 multi-hit games, more than tripling her total from last season.
These four all-region honors bring the program's all-time mark to 50 players. All four will be in action tomorrow as Carson-Newman tries to stave off elimination in the NCAA Tournament against Anderson.
First pitch between Carson-Newman and Anderson is slated for 4:00 p.m. at the Francis Marion Softball Stadium. Fans can watch the game on NCAA.com, listen to it on cneagles.com/live or watch the In The Booth cam on Carson-Newman's Eagle Sports Network YouTube Channel.
