May 5, 2023

T-Birds open up Cascade Collegiate Conference championship Saturday vs Yotes

By Jeff Sargeant

UBC Communications

VANCOUVER – The 2023 post-season has finally arrived as the UBC Thunderbirds make their way to Klamath Falls, Oregon for the Cascade Collegiate Conference championship which gets underway on Saturday, May 6.

Entering the double elimination tournament as the No. 2 seed, the T-Birds (31-19, 16-8) open up the weekend against the No. 3 seeded College of Idaho Yotes (31-16, 15-9) in a rematch of last year’s conference championship opening game.

Despite finishing the CCC regular season tied with the host Hustlin’ Owls for top spot in the standings, the tie-breaker didn’t go UBC’s way, meaning a long bus ride south as Oregon Tech earned the right to host. But it’s a familiar situation for the T-Birds who are focussed and ready to get back to the Opening Round of the NAIA World Series for a second straight season.

“We just made this trip a couple weeks ago but we were giving finals on the road, guys were studying, they’re stressed out – now they’re just playing ball,” said UBC head coach Chris Pritchett. “There’s been a lot of energy at practice and the guys are excited. They know there’s four good teams down there and anyone can win it. They’re excited to see what we can do.”

Also featuring the top seeded Owls and fourth seed Lewis-Clark State Warriors, the winner of the double elimination format will be the only Cascade team to have their seasons extended – other than LC State who receives an automatic bid into the World Series as the hosts.

That is to say, unless the Warriors also end up in Monday’s final game, it’s a win or go home scenario for the others in a year that has seen more parity in the conference than perhaps ever before.

“I don’t know if there’s ever been a situation where LC is the No. 4 seed and Oregon Tech is No. 1,” added Pritchett. “So it’s unusual, but we’ve played everybody. Everyone knows if you play your best ball you have a really good chance to win games and it should be exciting. This is really what it’s all about, we’ve been working towards this and I think we’re playing well right now so there’s a lot of confidence, not overconfidence, but a lot of confidence heading into this tournament.”

With 14 wins in their final 17 conference games, the T-Birds enter the championship with plenty of wind at their backs.

While UBC has had plenty of success at the plate this season with the likes of Jonny McGill and Aaron Marsh who finished the regular season second and fifth in batting average, respectively, the T-Birds’ combined pitching efforts has perhaps been their biggest key to success in 2023.

The ‘Birds are the only team to boast three pitchers in the conference’s top ten in ERA: (Sean Heppner 3.32, Ryan Heppner 3.46, Ryan Beitel 5.10). Sean Heppner also finished tops in the CCC in strikeouts (82), innings pitched (75.1) and earned runs allowed (21). But perhaps even more importantly from a team perspective has been the consistent long outings from all of UBC’s starters which has helped to keep relievers fresh.

“The park we’ll be playing at this weekend is a hitter’s park, there’s no question about it,” Pritchett said. “There’s a wind blowing out, it’s a hard infield, the ball bounces with unpredictable bounces, so it’s tough.

“But they still have to pitch their game so that’s a little bit what they’re in for. I think it’s great we were just there so that’s also something they can draw upon from that experience. Everyone will have to be ready to go and hopefully we can get some quality starts out of our guys. I’m comfortable with the depth we have and the quality, it’s everyone’s going to have to be at their best and we’re ready to do that.”

First pitch for the T-Birds and Yotes is set for 11:00 a.m. PT on Saturday. The winner will advance to face either LC State or Oregon Tech at 12:00 p.m. Sunday while the loser will face a do-or-die scenario against Friday’s other losing team at 8:30 a.m. Sunday.

2023 CCC Baseball Tournament Schedule (All times Pacific)

Saturday, May 6

Game 1 - 11 a.m. | #3 seed College of Idaho vs. #2 seed British Columbia

Game 2 - 2:30 p.m. | #4 seed LC State vs. #1 seed Oregon Tech

Sunday, May 7

Game 3 – 8:30 a.m. | Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 (loser eliminated)

Game 4 - 12:00 p.m. | Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2

Game 5 – 3:30 p.m. | Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4

Monday, May 8

Game 7 - 11:00 a.m. | Championship - Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5

Game 8 - *If Necessary | 30 min after Game 7