UBC opens NAIA championship opening round against Antelope Valley

Former Delta Blue Jays Sean Heppner (Delta, BC/Point Roberts, Wash) earned Cascade conference Pitcher of the Year.

May 14, 2023

By Jeff Sargeant

UBC Communications

VANCOUVER – For the fourth straight season, the UBC Thunderbirds find themselves at the NAIA Baseball National Championship opening round as the blue and gold have made their way to Santa Barbara, Calif. where they enter as the No. 4 seed in the five-team regional bracket hosted by Westmont College.

Marking their 10th appearance in the opening round, the T-Birds are fresh off their first Cascade Collegiate Conference title in program history and are fully intent on making even more history by punching their ticket to the NAIA World Series for the first time since 2006.

But plenty of work stands in UBC’s way before they can think of extending their season beyond next week, starting with a match up against the University of Antelope Valley Pioneers on Monday at Russell Carr Field.

“I think our guys, when we play well they have the confidence that we can beat anybody,” said UBC head coach Chris Pritchett who has now guided the T-Birds to five opening round appearances in their last six seasons. “And I think when we don’t play well we can be beat by anybody. So knowing that, I think helps them relax a little bit and there’s a little less worry about where we’re going and just focus about what we’re doing. If we play well, we don’t really care who we play.”

That confidence is well-founded after the T-Birds closed out the regular season with 14 conference wins in their final 17 games followed by going a perfect 3-0 in the Cascade tournament. But, appropriately, this point of the season will feature the strongest opposition yet as the ‘Birds have been placed in a bracket with two top-25 ranked teams including the host Westmont Warriors (No. 6) and Benedictine-Mesa (No. 13).

Last season, the ‘Birds came within a single win of advancing to their first World Series tournament. While it was a disappointing experience, it was also invaluable and may come in handy this week in California.

“Every year is such a new experience but I do think having been through that, especially our guys who were in their first year last year, to see what a nationally ranked team looks like, to have already competed with them and get so close, I think that is something we can build upon for sure,” Pritchett added. “Every time you experience something in the postseason and you’re that close to the World Series it should help you with your nerves a little bit, but it’s hard to tell until you get out there and play.”

The challenging regular season that was 2023 for UBC should also be a benefit. In a conference that saw two wins separate first through fourth, it makes for a battle tested T-Birds squad as they prepare to face some of the best teams in all of the NAIA.

“It was a tough league, every weekend you had to really fight just to split or win a series so that should help us. When you’re not just cruising through, you’re having to play playoff baseball the last three weeks just to get to this point, that’s a positive.”

The T-Birds’ quest to get to their first NAIA World Series begins Monday, May 15 against the Pioneers. It will mark the first meeting with UAV since an exhibition series in California in February of last year and the first post-season matchup with the Pioneers since 2019. The winner of Monday morning’s game will advance to face the host Westmont Warriors later the same day while the loser will face the prospect of elimination Tuesday morning.

First pitch between the T-Birds and Pioneers is set for 9:00 a.m. PT Monday. The game will be live streamed.