VANCOUVER – The defending Cascade Collegiate Conference champion UBC Thunderbirds open up their title defence against the Oregon Tech Owls on Saturday, May 4 in Lewiston, Idaho.
The regular season conference leading Lewis-Clark State Warriors are hosting the double elimination tournament with the hosts battling the Bushnell Beacons later on Saturday, rounding out the four team contingent.
With the Warriors once again hosting the NAIA World Series this season, LC State receives an automatic berth through to the Opening Round, allowing for two of the four teams this weekend to advance their respective seasons.
But in the history of the conference tournament, there may have never been a deeper, more challenging field than what's on the table in 2024.
"Getting through this tournament is a totally different scenario than it was five years ago for sure," said UBC head coach
Chris Pritchett who is looking to guide his team to a fifth straight berth at a playoff regional tournament which would get underway May 13. "When you get to a tournament like this where it's double-elimination, any time you can stay in the winner's bracket you usually have an advantage going into the next game because someone else is going to have to burn some pitching in order to stay alive. So that's key."
Entering the conference tournament as the third seed, the T-Birds (30-17, 15-9) face the number two seed Owls (34-16, 18-6) in a battle pitting two very similar teams against each other. The top two hitting clubs in the conference (UBC's .320 vs OIT's .311), the 'Birds and Owls also led the CCC in runs (OIT's 399 vs UBC's 385). The Owls did earn the season series win over the T-Birds, taking three out of four games in Klamath Falls in mid-March.
"They can beat you so many ways," said Pritchett of OIT's potential threat. "They can run, so our pitchers have to be mindful. They'll play the little game and they also can slug too. Their three and four hitters, (Tyler) Horner and (Julien) Jones, are as good as anyone in the NAIA in my opinion. They also have an ace, they didn't have one last year, but they have (Bronson) Chapple who's been really good. They've improved from last year and they were really good last year. LC improved from last year and they were really good last year; we got better too. So, the league keeps getting better and it keeps getting harder and harder to get out of here."
The number of heavy hitters in the tournament opening game is staggering. Junior Thunderbird
Trent Lenihan completed the season with a remarkable .412 batting average, leading the conference with 82 total hits. Outfielders
Mitchell Middlemiss (.386) and
Jonny McGill (.368) make it three T-Birds in the top eight in CCC batting average, the only team to boast such efficiency.
While the 'Birds overall are at their deepest roster-wise in a number of years, they used their final week bye to their advantage to rest some injuries and adjust for the playoffs following their regular season ending four-game series loss to the Warriors.
"I think our team's in a better place than we were two weeks ago. At first I didn't want to have an off week, but with finals and some injuries, I think this has been our best week of practice. I think we're all on the same page so I feel really confident going into this tournament for sure. But also realistic, I mean the number five team in baseball is going to be hosting and in my opinion UBC and OIT are very similar and probably deserve to be in the top 20 as well."
A win for UBC Saturday would keep the 'Birds in that coveted winner's bracket which would see them then face the winner of LC vs Bushnell Sunday morning. A loss against the Owls would force UBC into their first elimination game Sunday afternoon.
First pitch between the T-Birds and Oregon Tech is set for 1:00 p.m. Saturday in Lewiston. The game will be available through a
pay-per-view livestream.
