Southern Oregon University Picked to Win Softball Title
LA GRANDE, Ore. – Coming off of a 2017 league tournament championship and a trip to the NAIA softball World Series final site, the Southern Oregon University softball program has earned the top spot in the 2018 Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) preseason coaches’ poll.
The Raiders received six first place votes and a total of 84 points. Southern finished last year 46-15 overall, 20-7 in conference play, and went on to win their opening round of the NAIA tournament to advance to the final site. Jessica Pistole enters her fourth season leading the Raiders.
Corban University and Oregon Tech landed in a tie second place on the poll with 72 points and two first place votes each. The Warriors finished 46-13 overall and 22-5 in conference claiming the regular season CCC title. Corban advanced to the NAIA Championship game against No. 1 Oklahoma City earning the runner-up trophy. 2017 Coach of the Year Abigail Farler has pitcher of the year Sabrina Boyd, as well as, newcomer of the year Jessie Isham back for the Warriors. Greg Stewart leads and Oregon Tech squad that finished 36-17 overall and 20-7 in CCC play into the 2018 campaign. The Lady Owls advanced to the opening round of the 2017 NAIA tournament as an at-large selection and returns All-CCC first team selection Tara Moates.
The College of Idaho is picked fourth with 56 points followed by Carroll College (42) in fifth, Eastern Oregon (40) in sixth and British Columbia (32) in seventh.
The University of Providence landed at number eight with 23 points in the preseason poll. Rounding out the remaining two teams are Northwest (19) and Northwest Christian (13).
Conference play is set to begin March 2-3.
2018 CCC Softball Coaches' Preseason Poll
|
Team |
Points |
17 CCC |
17 Overall |
| 1. |
Southern Oregon (6) |
84 |
20-7 |
46-15 |
| T-2. |
Corban (2) |
72 |
22-5 |
46-13 |
| T-2. |
Oregon Tech (2) |
72 |
20-7 |
36-17 |
| 4. |
College of Idaho |
56 |
16-11 |
23-23 |
| 5. |
Carroll |
42 |
10-16 |
15-21 |
| 6. |
Eastern Oregon |
40 |
17-10 |
28-19 |
| 7. |
British Columbia |
32 |
13-13 |
15-24 |
| 8. |
Providence |
23 |
6-21 |
14-25 |
| 9. |
Northwest |
19 |
6-21 |
13-30 |
| 10. |
Northwest Christian |
13 |
4-23 |
4-38 |
The NAIA softball preseason poll will be released January 16th.