Top seeds dominate Day 1 of CCC Championships presented by U.S. Bank
FRIDAY’S RESULTS
Game 1 – (4) Corban 4, (5) Carroll 2
Game 2 – (3) College of Idaho 2, (6) British Columbia 1
Game 3 – (1) Southern Oregon 4, (4) Corban 1
Game 4 – (2) Oregon Tech 3, (3) College of Idaho 2
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Game 5 @ 9 a.m. – (6) British Columbia vs. (4) Corban (loser eliminated)
Game 6 @ 11:30 a.m. – (5) Carroll vs. (3) College of Idaho (loser eliminated)
Game 7 @ 2 p.m. – (2) Oregon Tech at (1) Southern Oregon
Game 8 @ 4:30 p.m. – Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6 (loser eliminated)
SUNDAY’S GAMES
Game 9 @ 11 a.m. – Loser of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 8 (loser eliminated)
Game 10 @ 1:30 p.m. – Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 9 (championship)
Game 11 – Thirty minutes after completion of Game 10 (if necessary)
ASHLAND – The opening day of the Cascade Conference Championships presented by U.S. Bank featured four games decided by a total of seven runs, but the top seeds hung on to win all of them as Southern Oregon and Oregon Tech came out unscathed Friday at University Field.
The top-seeded and fourth-ranked Raiders (43-7), attempting to become the first team to win three straight tournament championships, will meet the second-seeded and 10th-ranked Owls (39-13) at 2 p.m. Saturday for a spot in Sunday’s title round. Before that, fourth-seeded Corban (35-13) will match up with sixth-seeded British Columbia (12-26) and third-seeded College of Idaho (36-14) will play fifth-seeded Carroll (19-23) in elimination games.
Below is a chronological recap of Friday’s action:
GAME 1 – CORBAN 4, CARROLL 2
Sam Woodley's fifth home run of the season gave fourth-seeded Corban all the cushion it needed to defeat Carroll (Mont.) in the tournament opener. The Warriors and Saints were tied 1-1 when Jessie Isham started the bottom of the third inning with a triple. Woodley came up next with a towering shot over the fence in left field, and one more run came in later in frame on a two-out error.
Corban's Rachel White worked 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) before giving way to Alyssa Vidal, who recorded the final five outs to save the game and set up a meeting with Southern Oregon. Carroll's Allison Williams threw a complete game and was charged with three earned runs.
GAME 2 – COLLEGE of IDAHO 2, BRITISH COLUMBIA 1
College of Idaho's Hannah McNerney drove a pinch-hit double to the left-field fence that chased home Taylor Eakle with two outs in the seventh inning, giving the Yotes a walk-off win over British Columbia for the right to play second-seeded Oregon Tech.
McNerney and the third-seeded Yotes made a winner out of Colette Robert, who yielded five hits in a complete game and finished with four consecutive scoreless frames. Her counterpart for UBC, Kaia Gyorfi, struck out eight and took a no-hitter into the fifth inning before Eakle stroked a double and Bentli Corta hit a game-tying single to left. Eakle later set up the game-winning rally with a leadoff walk as Gyorfi took the tough-luck loss in a four-hitter.
GAME 3 – SOUTHERN OREGON 4, CORBAN 1
Southern Oregon ace Gabby Sandoval established a new single-season Cascade Conference for wins with her 28th in guiding the top-seeded Raiders to a win over Corban despite their offensive struggles.
The Raiders stranded 12 baserunners but survived thanks to Sandoval’s 25th complete game. They pushed two runs across in the first inning on hit-batsmen; Tayler Walker and Olivia Mackey both added run-scoring singles but Corban cut down the Raiders trying to plate their second runs on both plays.
The Warriors broke up Sandoval's shutout bid with two outs in the seventh on a Makiah Johnson single.
GAME 4 – OREGON TECH 3, COLLEGE of IDAHO 2
Marissa Maddox's two-homer game put College of Idaho in position to upset Oregon Tech, but her dropped fly ball in right field with two outs in the seventh enabled the Owls to walk off with a win in the Day 1 finale.
After hitting opposite-field solo shots – her 12th and 13th of the season – to nearly the same spot in right-center field during the second and sixth innings, Maddox was tasked with a tough play on the final at-bat. She charged in on a full sprint to shallow right before McKenna Armantrout's pop went in and out of her glove, bringing Jacey Conklin in from second to break the tie.
In the sixth, Maddox had made a sliding catch that saved a pair of runs. Her second homer gave the Yotes a 2-1 lead, but the Owls erased the deficit in the bottom of the sixth with Cierra Barkis's two-out RBI single. Sarah Abramson got the win to improve to 21-4, striking out nine in a seven-hit complete game.