CCC SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY U.S. BANK
May 1-3 | Stilwell Stadium | Klamath Falls, Ore.
FRIDAY'S RESULTS
G1 | (5) College of Idaho 5, (4) British Columbia 2
G2 | (3) Southern Oregon 13, (6) Simpson 2 (5 inn.)
G3 | (1) Oregon Tech 1, (5) College of Idaho 0
G4 | (3) Southern Oregon 4, (2) Eastern Oregon 1
SATURDAY'S RESULTS
G5 | College of Idaho 3, Simpson 2 (10 inn.) (SU eliminated)
G6 | Eastern Oregon 9, British Columbia 1 (5 inn.) (UBC eliminated)
G7 | Southern Oregon 4, Oregon Tech 1
G8 | College of Idaho 4, Eastern Oregon 2 (EOU eliminated)
SUNDAY'S RESULTS
G9 | College of Idaho 7, Oregon Tech 6 (OIT eliminated)
G10 |Southern Oregon 9, College of Idaho 1 (6 inn.) (championship)
KLAMATH FALLS – Southern Oregon's Cascade Conference Tournament title drought ended and its NAIA title defense appeared to enter full swing this weekend at Stilwell Stadium.
The No. 6-ranked Raiders completed their convincing charge through the CCC Championship presented by U.S. Bank on Sunday with a 9-1, six-inning defeat of College of Idaho in which they homered four times.
In support of another Ayla Davies gem, Ari Williams hit a two-run shot in the first inning, Brooke Nordahl did the same in the second, and Avery Coffin and Kierstin Grotewiel went back-to-back with no-doubters in the sixth.
SOU (41-13 overall), the No. 3 seed, never trailed in the tournament and outscored its opponents 30-5 combined. The Raiders last captured the title in 2019 and had won four NAIA World Series championships since then.
They'll bring a 12-game winning streak into the NAIA Championship Opening Round, the 48-team field for which will be announced at 3 p.m. Wednesday. They're set to host a four- or five-team bracket at Laurel Park from May 11-14.
The fifth-seeded Yotes (34-20) had eliminated No. 2 seed Eastern Oregon on Saturday and No. 1 seed Oregon Tech earlier on Sunday to reach the final round. They would've needed to defeat SOU twice to win the tournament.
Using their newfound power, the Raiders took the wind out of C of I's sails early. They'd hit only 10 home runs in 50 regular-season games – it was their lowest total since Jessica Pistole became the team's head coach in 2015 – before clearing the fence eight times on the weekend.
Williams' home run was her second of the tournament. Coffin, who hit the first of her career in Saturday's 4-1 win against Oregon Tech, plated three runs with her second. Grotewiel's ensuing solo blast positioned SOU to trigger the mercy rule.
Davies maneuvered around five hits and five walks, conceding C of I's only run on Lena Zahniser's second-inning homer. She ended the weekend with three consecutive complete games, allowing one run in each, and the Raiders didn't commit an error behind her in any of those performances. Her record shot to 23-7 as her ERA dipped to 2.01.
Redshirt-freshman right fielder Kalea Thomas ended the tournament with a fourth-straight multi-hit effort, going 3-for-5 with an RBI double. An 11-for-16 weekend raised her batting average to .401.
Coffin joined Thomas with three hits. Grotewiel, Williams, Gia Almont and Lexi Ramirez accounted for two apiece of SOU's 17. The Raiders batted .383 at the tourney.
Entering the weekend, since winning the 2019 CCC Tournament, the Raiders had gone 7-10 in conference tournament games and 41-8 in national tournament games.
They're automatically in the national field again with a chance to defend their title. EOU and OIT are also locks to qualify, while C of I is in a strong position to earn an at-large bid.