Oregon Tech Lady Owls Picked to Rule 2017 Softball
LA GRANDE, Ore. – Oregon Tech has been voted as the team to win the 2017 softball regular season title, the conference office announced.
The Lady Owls earned eight first place votes and 80 points through voting conducted by the conference coaches. Southern Oregon received two first place votes and is picked second with 74 points. The College of Idaho was picked third with 58 points while Corban University resides in fourth with 53 points.
Carroll College was picked fifth with 46 points followed by; University of Great Falls (41), Eastern Oregon University (39),The University of British Columbia (29), Northwest Christian University (16), Northwest (14).
After one year (2016) with a west and east division, teams will return to a format in which each team will play each other the same number of times to determine a true regular season champion. At stake will be one of the two automatic qualifiers to the NAIA National Softball Championships. The second AQ will be awarded to the conference tournament champion. If the tournament champion has already received an AQ as the regular season champion the second AQ will go to the tournament runner-up.
The regular season champion will host the six-team postseason tournament, which is slated for May 5-7.
2017 CCC Preseason Coaches' Poll
| Place |
Institution |
Points |
2016 CCC |
2016 Overall |
| 1. |
Oregon Tech (8) |
80 |
20-8 |
30-22 |
| 2 |
Southern Oregon (2) |
74 |
20-8 |
37-18 |
| 3. |
College of Idaho |
58 |
9-15 |
17-20-1 |
| 4. |
Corban |
53 |
18-10 |
35-19 |
| 5. |
Carroll |
46 |
12-14 |
25-23 |
| 6. |
Great Falls |
41 |
12-12 |
27-20 |
| 7. |
Eastern Oregon |
39 |
14-10 |
29-23 |
| 8. |
British Columbia |
29 |
11-17 |
13-24 |
| 9. |
Northwest Christian |
16 |
11-17 |
17-33 |
| 10. |
Northwest |
14 |
6-22 |
11-29 |
First place votes in parentheses