The snow has cleared and the temperature has warmed just in time for the UBC Thunderbirds to open up their 2025 Cascade Collegiate Conference schedule as the blue and gold host Eastern Oregon for a pair of doubleheaders starting Saturday, February 22 at Tourmaline West Stadium.
The T-Birds (2-6) boast a veteran laden lineup, returning the vast majority of last year's team which came just two wins shy of advancing to the NAIA World Series. Coming agonizing close to the big dance in each of the last three seasons, there's one major goal looming ahead for UBC, but the quest to get to Lewiston, Idaho at the end of May begins this weekend in the confines of their home field.
"That's certainly on people's minds, but I think as we learned on the first trip, you still got to take care of all the little things that we've been working on. They just don't magically happen so there's been a real commitment to those things over the last week since we got back," said UBC head coach,
Chris Pritchett, referencing the team's mixed bag of results in their recent season-opening Florida swing. "We're starting the season earlier than we ever have and we got to go somewhere warm, but there was a real excitement about coming home and starting conference at home which we haven't done much in the last few years. The energy in practice has been fantastic, we're really looking forward to getting out there."
The No. 24 ranked 'Birds faced a gauntlet of tough opponents in central Florida where the team went 2-6 along with some tightly fought battles against top 12 NAIA powerhouses. While the results weren't what UBC was hoping for, it was a good litmus test and will undoubtedly benefit the team as they move into conference play.
"It gave us a bit of a scorecard of where we're at," said Pritchett who's into his 10
th season leading the T-Birds. "All the practicing we've got done, it's hard to really tell for example if some of our younger players are ready for the game speed, so we got a real snapshot of where we're at. As much as I wish we had a better record coming home, we certainly have the confidence that if we do what we need to do, then we have an ability to play with anyone in the country, so I think that was a valuable lesson for us."
Eastern Oregon (3-4) enters conference play as a bit of an unknown for the T-Birds with a good deal of roster turnover. The Mountaineers finished sixth in the CCC standings in 2024, short of making the post-season conference tournament. EOU did pick up a pair of wins against UBC as they split their only series meeting which took place in La Grande. It's been three years since the Mountaineers last paid a visit to Vancouver.
Despite the lacklustre Floridian results, the T-Birds are a confident bunch heading into conference play, and with good reason. Aside from some solid veteran performances thus far from the likes of
Kellen Bourne and
Trent Lenihan along with a terrific performance on the mound by
Ryan Beitel, the 'Birds are also seeing solid contributions from the youngest members of their deep roster – all of which bodes well for what's to come.
"There's a real mentorship thing happening and they're all gelling. I think the real challenge for me as a coach is the depth; some of these young guys are absolutely ready to perform at this level and a lot of them have a veteran established player in front of them, so trying to keep that balance is going to be somewhat of a challenge for me and the coaching staff. We haven't had that in the past, which you could say is a good problem, but from a team chemistry point of view it's going to be something that hopefully plays itself out. We're going to get the young guys chances here and there even though there are some real established veterans in those positions."
UBC fans will get their first glimpse of their team at home when they take to Tourmaline West Stadium Saturday at 1:00 p.m. for first pitch of the season-opening doubleheader against EOU. Sunday's double dip gets underway at 11:00 a.m. Admission for all four games is free.
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