SALEM, Ore. – After a program-best 2024-25 campaign, the Thunderbirds are ready to get fully into the swing of things in Cascade Collegiate Conference play this weekend.
Travelling down to Salem, Oregon to take on the Corban Warriors this weekend, the T-Birds hope to start their CCC season off on the right foot following the 8-6 record they posted in non-conference play.
Playing their first games of the year back at the beginning of February at the NAIA Southern Collegiate Sports Invitational in Texas, the Thunderbirds tested their mettle against some strong opposition before heading to Arizona to take on a trio of schools on their home turf.
UBC certainly held their own, finishing 4-2 at the Texas invitational which included a 2-0 win over Kansas' Friends University who – like UBC – entered the season in the "receiving votes" section of the NAIA Softball Coaches' Top 25 Preseason Poll.
The T-Birds then split their series against each of the three Arizona-based programs they faced, before coming back home for their final prep ahead of the trip down to Oregon.
"We've had some really great moments that I think show our potential, as well as some learning moments – which happen early in the year no matter what, especially when we have some younger players looking to earn opportunities," said UBC head coach
Jennifer McKellar. "We learned a lot about who we are and how we best compete, so I'm excited for them to take that into CCC play."
This year's roster is quite different from last year's, with since departed players accounting for 55% of UBC's total at-bats and 57% of total innings pitched from this past season. 12 of the 19 T-Birds on this year's team are in either their first or second year of eligibility, including four of the five pitchers.
The lone upperclassman arm is
Carleen Murray, who was dominant in non-conference play. The White Rock native has already thrown five complete games – four of them wins – and has more than twice as many strikeouts (66) as hits allowed (28) through 51 innings pitched.
While Murray stands as the clear ace in the rotation, McKellar also has plenty of faith in the group of young pitchers the T-Birds have alongside her.
Madison Hiebert and
Brynn Fortier, two players who arrived at UBC in the fall of 2023 but are just now able to play for the first time this season, have both earned multiple starts so far. Second-year
Mary Jane Mitchison and true freshman
Mila Anderson round out the group.
"They're learning with each opportunity," remarked McKellar on her quartet of less experienced pitchers. "Between Madison and Brynn, they'll both be competing for game two starts. Mila is our lefty, and she spins the ball really well and gives us a different look. And then Mary Jane is similar with a good change-up.
"They all complement each other very well…I'm sure they're up for the challenge, but it's all about getting good opportunities under their belt right now."
Their first CCC opponent of the year are the Warriors, who struggled in their non-conference action with an 0-6 record at last week's Simpson Round Robin tournament in California. It's the start of eight straight games and 12 out of 16 overall on the road to begin conference play.
Only having four home games in the first two months of the season doesn't bother the T-Birds, however. In fact, McKellar wanted to play as the road team in as many of their non-conference games as possible (whether a true road game or while on a neutral site), in order to give her team more experience being up to bat first and the game flow that comes from playing in that position.
"I think we embrace that visiting role, and being the only Canadian team, it suits us well," she said. "I think in many ways it actually plays into what we're comfortable with and isn't unfamiliar to us at all."
The Thunderbirds and Warriors will face off in a pair of doubleheaders, beginning at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. (PT) on Friday, and at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Those games will be streamed online on the
Urban Edge Network.
