NEW ORLEANS (JMU Athletics) – Payton List was named the 2024 Sun Belt Freshman of the Year and was joined All-Sun Belt First Team by teammates Bella Henzler and Reed Butler, the league office announced on Tuesday afternoon.

List, the native of Beaver, Pa., has split time at pitcher, designated player, and left field this season, accruing a batting average of .343 with nine home runs, eight doubles, and 29 RBI to take home first team laurels. She also made 30 appearances (13 starts in the circle) this season, working 85.2 innings with 72 strikeouts. She becomes the ninth player in JMU program history to win Freshman of the Year and the first since Alissa Humphrey was named CAA Rookie of the Year in 2021.

Conference play was where List shined, recording a .395 batting average in 24 games. In those games, she smacked seven of her nine home runs and also hit six doubles, and tallied 22 RBI. She also owns a .420 on-base percentage in league action.

Butler has enjoyed a career year in 2024, as the graduate student set single-season career highs in batting average (.418), hits (69), runs scored (52), home runs (11), total bases (113), slugging (.685), walks (24), on-base percentage (.495), and OPS (1.180). All of those marks either lead the team or are tied for the team lead. Her batting average of .418 is on track to be the fourth-highest in single-season team history, and her on-base percentage would be third highest.

Henzler has done nothing but hit in her two years at JMU, as the sophomore finished 2024 with a batting average of .354 which included 11 home runs, 10 doubles, and 30 RBI. She has recorded multiple hits in 19 games this season, including four three-hit games. Henzler also drove in multiple runs on seven occasions and recorded a 13-game on-base streak during the season. She also notched the 100th hit of her career last Friday against Coastal Carolina, the fifth JMU player to accomplish that feat this season.

The Dukes head to San Marcos, Texas for the 2024 Sun Belt Championship, set for May 8-11. JMU is the No. 8 seed and will take on ninth-seeded Southern Miss on Wednesday, May 8 at 5 p.m. ET (4 p.m. CT). The game can be heard on ESPN Harrisonburg (106.9 FM | 1360 AM) and on the Varsity Network App.

— JMU Athletics —