May 9, 2023

By Dan O’Connor

UBC Communications

An unforgettable season of baseball at UBC is continuing into mid-May after a historic performance in Springfield, Ore.

Tuesday evening at the Hamlin Sports Complex at Bushnell University, the UBC Thunderbirds (34-19) completed a perfect run through the 2023 Cascade Collegiate Conference tournament with an 11-7 come-from-behind victory over the Oregon Tech Owls. The victory gives the 'Birds their first ever Cascade Collegiate Conference championship banner, and ensures that they'll be participating in the 2023 NAIA World Series beginning May 15 at a site that will be finalized in the days to come.

Jonny McGill paced the UBC attack with four hits, including a home run and two doubles while three other 'Birds (Aaron Marsh, Noah Or and Trent Lenihan) went yard. The biggest homer of the day was a three-run blast from Lenihan in the sixth inning that pushed UBC's lead to 9-5.

The Oregon Tech Hustlin' Owls answered with four home runs of their own – two of which came from Ian Peters. Ryan Beitel earned the win on the mound for UBC as he went six innings, striking out seven. Ryan Poling took the loss for OIT as he allowed six of the eventual 11 UBC runs.

"It's huge for our program," remarked the jubilant head coach of the UBC Thunderbirds, Chris Pritchett who was still soaked after being doused with ice water by his team during the championship celebration. "These guys are now forever a part of history. I'm especially happy for our fifth-year guys who get to experience a championship after dealing with the pandemic, and other struggles in previous years."

Fresh off a 5-4 victory over Lewis-Clark State earlier on Tuesday the Hustlin' Owls gave UBC an early scare in the top of the first. UBC starter Ryan Beitel retired the first two hitters he faced, but surrendered a single to Julien Jones. Up came outfield Alonzo Vergara who smashed a home run to give OIT the early 2-0 lead.

Tech starter Cody Dubray struggled with his command in the top of the first inning as he walked the first three UBC batters he faced. He caught a break though when his catcher Tyler Horner threw out Aidan Rose as he tried to swipe second base. He then retired Brandon Hupe and Trent Lenihan to end the threat, keeping his team up 2-0.

Ian Peters increased OIT's lead to 3-0 in the top of the second with a one-out solo blast, but the UBC bats wouldn't stay quiet for long.

McGill led off the bottom of the second with his first of two doubles on the day. Dubray then continued to struggle finding the strike zone as just eight of his first 28 pitches were strikes. He nearly escaped the second inning unscathed too, but with two on and two out, Noah Or laced a double off the wall in left centre field, driving in the first two UBC runs.

"Nobody panicked, especially knowing we had two games to get it done. We expected that there were going to be a lot of runs scored, but Ryan kept us in it with a bend-and-not-break mentality," said Chris Pritchett. "Then later on, both our relievers were great late in the game. All three of them made great pitches at key times."

The power surge continued in the top of the third when Oregon Tech once again went up by two on the strength of a Julien Jones solo shot – his third of the tournament.

The heart of the UBC order (Mike Fitzsimmons and Brandon Hupe) responded in kind with back-to-back doubles to begin their half of the third. Hupe's double down the left field line scored Fitzsimmons, making it a 4-3 lead for the Owls. Cody Dubray only faced two more batters before being pulled from his start after going just 2 1/3 innings. In came Ryan Poling who surrendered a sacrifice fly from Kyle Anderson which scored Hupe and tied the game at 4-4.

Each team went yard once during their half of the fourth inning. With one out in the top half, OIT designated hitter Ian Peters clubbed his second homer of the day, and the fourth in as many innings for the Owls, giving them a 5-4 lead. But Aaron Marsh then responded with a two-out jack of his own, which once again got the blue and gold back on even terms.

A two out walk was the only blemish on an otherwise clean fifth inning for Ryan Beitel. Then, thanks to another McGill double, the 'Birds took their first (and final) lead of the day when he scored two batters later on an RBI ground out off the bat of Luciano Letteri.

Beitel's final inning of the evening had an adventurous start, as the first two Owls reached base. But a successful pick-off, followed by a ground out and a fly out, had UBC up 6-5 heading to their half of the sixth.

"Ryan's pickoff move was a turning point for us," claimed Pritchett. "It thwarted the rally right when momentum seemed to be coming back to them. It was hard to know where it was going to end, but he stabilized things from there."

With two runners on base, and only one out in their next at-bat, UBC hit the most important homer of the evening. It came off the bat of Trent Lenihan who hit a deep drive left centre field, scoring himself, Fitzsimmons and Hupe for a 9-5 UBC lead.

The red-hot McGill was up next, and he took Ryan Poling deep giving UBC their third big fly of the day, and a 10-5 lead.

"It wasn't just today. Our lineup has been getting contributions from everywhere all year," reflected Pritchett. "I hope everybody on this roster feels like they have a piece of this championship because it took a whole group effort to get us to this point."

Kellen Bourne replaced Beitel on the hill for UBC to start the seventh and despite allowing two hits, he wiggled his way out of damage, keeping the Owls off the scoresheet. Then UBC catcher Noah Or added some offensive insurance when he mashed a one out solo homerun to make it 11-5.

The homers from McGill and Or would prove to be valuable because the talented Hustlin' Owls had one last comeback bid in them.

After a walk and a pair of singles, the bases were loaded with zero outs in the top of the eighth. Kellen Bourne then walked Sean Tobin which scored Ka'ala Tam, and it was 11-6. In came star reliever Vicarte Domingo to try and clean up the mess. He walked Adam Jacques, the first hitter he faced, which scored a run, bringing Tech back within four.

From there though, Domingo dug deep. It started with a strikeout of OIT leadoff hitter Korrey Siracusa. He then fanned star catcher Tyler Horner for the second out, and got some stellar defence from shortstop Mike Fitzsimmons who knocked down a Julien Jones line drive to make the final out of the inning.

The 11-7 UBC lead remained as the top of the ninth inning arrived. Back came Domingo for his second inning of work, looking to capture the six-out save.

The first batter he faced was the cleanup hitter Alonzo Vargara and he struck him out looking for the first out. Up next was Ka'ala Tam who popped out to second base, leaving the game in the hands of first baseman Bryce Petrilla. Domingo made quick work of Petrilla, striking him out swinging, clinching the dramatic victory for the UBC Thunderbirds.

"I'm proud of what we've accomplished to this point," concluded Pritchett. "We're going to enjoy tonight but our focus is soon going to shift to next week. We've got big plans and we're not done yet."

On their way to the 2023 CCC crown, Chris Pritchett's crew ran the table at the 2023 CCC Tournament. It started Sunday with a 5-1 victory over the College of Idaho, and then continued later that day with a 4-2 triumph over Lewis-Clark State. Tuesday's victory against the Hustlin' Owls now means that the 'Birds will head to the 66th annual NAIA World Series which begins on May 15. The location, seeding and game times for the UBC Thunderbirds will be revealed in the days to come