CORVALLIS, Ore. – In arguably the toughest softball conference in the NAIA, with multiple teams consistently ranked, Oregon Tech was picked to defend its Cascade Collegiate Conference championship, announced Monday after the conference head coaches voted on the preseason poll.
The Owls, who swept the Regular-Season Championship and CCC Softball Tournament Championship, presented by U.S. Bank, earned six first-place votes to top the preseason poll with 94 points. OIT comes off a record-setting year, grabbing the most wins in school history with a 50-13 record, securing the CCC’s first automatic qualifier (AQ) and finishing seventh at the NAIA Tournament.
Southern Oregon University picked up three first-place votes and 88 points to sit in second on the poll. The Raiders were one of two CCC teams earning an at-large bid to the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round and finished the year with a 49-14 overall record.
Just one point behind the Raiders is the College of Idaho with 87 points and two first-place votes. The Coyotes grabbed the CCC’s second AQ last year after advancing to the conference tournament championship game with the Owls and finished the season with a 43-17 overall mark.
Eastern Oregon University (77 points) – which also earned an at-large bid to the NAIA Opening Round – and Corban University (53 points) rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth, respectively. Sitting just one point behind the Warriors is Carroll College (52 points for sixth), while UBC follows by another two points in seventh. Bushnell University and Northwest University sit tied for eighth and the University of Providence earned 23 points for 10
th on the poll. Warner Pacific University closed out the poll in 11
th.
The CCC conference season begins the weekend of Feb. 24 and 25, with the CCC Softball Tournament playing out May 5-7 at the regular season champion’s home field.
2023 CCC Softball Preseason Poll
| Team (First-Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1. Oregon Tech (6) |
94 |
| 2. Southern Oregon University (3) |
88 |
| 3. College of Idaho (2) |
87 |
| 4. Eastern Oregon University |
77 |
| 5. Corban University |
53 |
| 6. Carroll College |
52 |
| 7. UBC |
50 |
| T-8. Bushnell University |
34 |
| T-8. Northwest University |
34 |
| 10. University of Providence |
23 |
| 11. Warner Pacific University |
13 |