Carson-Newman's Bailey Named Third Team AFCA All-American
Story via Carson-Newman Athletics
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Make room in the trophy case for Macauley Bailey (Cross Plains, Tenn.). The senior was named Third Team All-America by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, the organization announced Wednesday afternoon.
"What a perfect ending to a storied career. I am glad that I was able to talk her into D2 and Carson Newman. When I recruited her, I told her I knew she would be successful at D1, but if you come to Carson Newman, you will get both a great education and you can be an all-American on the field," head coach Michael Graves said. "I knew she was different on and off the field. The only part I played was convincing her to come to Carson Newman. She made all the rest happen with her determination to be a winner on and off the field."
This is the second All-America honor for Bailey, she was a consensus All-American in 2022 after winning TUCCI/NFCA Division II National Freshman of the Year. She becomes the 25th player to earn All-America honors for the Carson-Newman softball program, the most in the history of the South Atlantic Conference.
"I've always really strived hard in softball to be disciplined on the field, to make the plays, hit the hits, get the runs in, so it feels nice, but also I feel like this one was so hard, like this has to be one of the hardest awards to win," Bailey said "Ever since freshman year, that's like obviously like the tip of the iceberg. It's almost like a peak, and I didn't know if I was going to get it this year. And you know, you don't want to peak your freshman year, so you kind of strive for that the rest of your four years. So just to finally receive it again feels nice, it feels good. I'm proud of myself, and I'm glad that it happened."
Bailey began her Carson-Newman career with a trip to the NCAA Tournament and finished it the same way. The senior has put together another stellar season in her final chapter, batting .440, totaling seven home runs with 59 RBIs, with a career-best .507 on-base percentage and a .636 slugging percentage. Her 81 hits were the sixth-most and 20 doubles is tied for the second-most in a single season.
Bailey closed her career with the third-most hits at 272, her .424 batting average and .480 on-base percentage are the sixth highest in program history, third with a .769 slugging percentage and fourth for the most doubles, 54. She is Carson-Newman's all-time leader in home runs, 55, and RBIs, 249, earlier this year she set the SAC record for career RBIs against Milligan.
In a year where she found her name on similar accolades, her path to getting there was different from prior years.
"This season was all about change. I'm used to hitting the long ball, I'm used to hitting home runs, only hit seven, I think last year hit 18, the years before I hit 15, so I kind of changed my game a little bit, it wasn't on purpose. It's just what God had in store for me. It wasn't the home runs, it was to get base hits, and it was to get doubles, and it was to let Grace behind me do her job," Bailey said. "So, I had a little bit different of a role, and it took me a while to be okay with it, but overall, I had fun. It was fun to play a little bit different game in softball, and it meant a lot to me. It meant a lot to me to be able to do something different for my team and still provide."
In 2026, Bailey recorded her fourth All-SAC honor at a fourth different position, making the First Team at first base. She also achieved her fourth and fifth All-Region honor being named the First Team honor for NFCA and D2CCA. Through her career, Bailey collected multiple outstanding athletic accolades, including NFCA National Freshman of the Year, SAC Player of the Year, SAC Freshman of the Year and two-time SAC All-Tournament team.
"She has won all the awards and will be a hall of famer one day, but Mac's greatest impact on this world is still to come," Graves said. "She is going to make that happen because she knew at an early age that her education was the most important thing to her no matter how great she was on the field. I love her and I'm sure going to miss that kid!"
This marks a fifth consecutive season Carson-Newman has produced an All-American.