VANCOUVER – An entertaining, promising, gutsy season of UBC Softball has come to an end on a rainy, gloomy afternoon in Klamath Falls, OR. The UBC Thunderbirds (24-21) suffered their second and final loss at the 2023 double elimination CCC Softball playoffs - an 8-5 setback at the hands of the Southern Oregon Raiders (41-10).
 
Cayla Williams paced the Raider attack with four hits, and four RBI while Sammie Pemberton chimed in with three hits and three RBI. The biggest hit of the day for UBC came from graduating senior Shelby Kempel who smacked a game-tying two RBI single in the top of the sixth inning. Shea Sever, Kaitlyn Kim and Gabrielle Dorval also supplied RBIs for the blue and gold.


 
A day removed from a nail-biting 1-0 loss to Eastern Oregon, UBC plated their first run of the weekend in their first offensive inning. Mia Valcke reached on an error – the first of four on the day for Southern Oregon. She then advanced to second on a Kaitlyn Eng bunt, and scored two hitters later when Shae Sever knocked her home off a single to center field.
 
The Raiders responded with a pair of their own runs in the bottom of the first – both of which came from a two-run double from Cayla Williams.
 
Both starting pitchers Shae Sever (UBC) and Cayla Williams (SOU) cruised through the second innings, as neither hurler allowed a base runner.
 
Mia Valcke got UBC's first comeback bid started in the top of the third with a leadoff single and would end up scoring the tying run off a timely two-out single from Kaitlyn Kim.


 
With two outs, two runners on and the score tied 2-2, the umpires and coaches decided to enforce a rain delay. The lone delay of the game would end up spanning 43 minutes.
 
When the players returned to the field, UBC third baseman Gabrielle Dorval took the first pitch she saw and laced a single to left which scored Shae Sever, putting UBC ahead for the second time in three innings.
 
For the second time though, Cayla Williams had an offensive answer. After Kailer Fulton and Riley Donovan both reached base to start the bottom of the third, Williams singled home Fulton to tie the game at 3-3. Sammie Pemberton then restored SOU's lead to 4-3 after a squeeze bunt scored Donovan. The damage could have been worse had it not been for a brilliant defensive double play that started with a diving catch from Kaitlyn Eng at first base. She then beamed the ball across the field to third base to nab Kami Klapp, ending the inning.
 
The score remained 4-3 for SOU over the next full inning-and-a-half, but would then increase to 5-3 when Sammie Pemberton doubled home Cayla Williams with one out in the fifth.
 
UBC's next comeback bid began with two outs and a runner on first base in the top of the sixth. Arshleen Bajwa extended the inning when she reached base on a throwing error. Mia Valcke then walked which loaded the bases for pinch hitter Shelby Kempel. Kempel only had 33 at bats during the regular season, but her first playoff at bat in 2023 was huge. The graduating senior drilled a single to right center field that scored both Hanna Hansen and Arshleen Bajwa, tying the game at 5-5!


 
Once again though, the Raiders had an offensive answer. It started with a one out double from Deja Acosta that scored Lindsay Stripling. Two batters later Williams bagged her final RBI of the day on a two out single to center that scored Acosta. Pemberton came up next and knocked in her third run of the day with a single to left that scored Riley Donovan. With six innings completed, the Raiders lead 8-5 with only three UBC outs remaining.
 
After a pair of seventh inning walks, UBC had the tying run at the plate with two outs. Unfortunately SOU reliever Katie Machado struck out veteran Hanna Hansen, ending the game and UBC's season.
 
With the win, Southern Oregon keeps their season alive and will play the top-ranked Oregon Tech Owls later tonight. The loss officially ends the UBC Softball season and the playing careers for four outgoing graduates: Hanna Hansen, Shelby Kempel, Mia Valcke and Olivia Malesku.
 
The future remains incredibly bright for the 'Birds who qualified for the CCC playoffs for a sixth straight season, and under the leadership of Jennifer McKellar are poised for another big step forward in 2024.