Al Case, Ashland Daily Photo.
SOU advances to title game, Yotes and Owls still alive at 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 RESULTS
Game 5 – (4) Corban 8, (6) British Columbia 2 (UBC eliminated)
Game 6 – (3) College of Idaho 4, (5) Carroll 1 (F/8) (Carroll eliminated)
Game 7 – (1) Southern Oregon 6, (2) Oregon Tech 0
Game 8 – (3) College of Idaho 4, (4) Corban 2 (Corban eliminated)
SUNDAY’S GAMES
Game 9 @ 11 a.m. – (2) Oregon Tech vs. (3) College of Idaho (loser eliminated)
Game 10 @ 1:30 p.m. – (1) Southern Oregon vs. Winner of Game 9 (championship)
Game 11 – Thirty minutes after completion of Game 10 (if necessary)
ASHLAND – The top three seeds are still standing going into Sunday’s final games of the Cascade Conference Championships presented by U.S. Bank at University Field, with College of Idaho and Oregon Tech set to battle for an automatic national tournament bid and Southern Oregon awaiting the winner in title round.
College of Idaho (38-14), the No. 3 seed, won back-to-back elimination games to stay alive – the first on Aleah Mendiola’s extra-inning home run against Carroll, and the second behind Colette Robert’s gem against Corban. Top-seeded Southern Oregon (44-7), meanwhile, stayed unbeaten in its quest for a third straight title with a 6-0 win over Oregon Tech (39-14).
Because the Raiders already secured the CCC’s first automatic spot in the 40-team NAIA Opening Round, the second will go to the other tournament finalist. After the Yotes and Owls play for that spot at 11 a.m., the winner would need to defeat SOU twice for the tourney championship.
Below is a chronological recap of Saturday’s games:
GAME 5 – CORBAN 8, BRITISH COLUMBIA 2
No-doubter home runs off the bats of Jessie Isham and Megan Rybar powered Corban past British Columbia in the first elimination game of the tournament. The Warriors (36-13) advanced as their lineup provided four extra-base hits and the pitching combo of Ally Crakes (4 innings, 2 runs) and Alyssa Vidal (3 innings, 0 runs) gave up just one earned run.
Isham's two-run shot – her eighth of the year – put Corban up 5-2 in the third. Rybar's fifth of the year was a solo shot, as she finished 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI. Makiah Johnson (1 run, 1 RBI) and Kaycee Arase (1 run) added two hits apiece.
The Thunderbirds finished with a record of 12-27.
GAME 6 – COLLEGE of IDAHO 4, CARROLL 1 (8 inn.)
College of Idaho sophomore Aleah Mendiola delivered the moment of the weekend with a three-run, potentially season-saving home run in the top of the eighth inning to lift College of Idaho over Carroll (Mont.) in another elimination affair. The first home run of Mendiola's career occurred in the first extra-inning game of the season for the third-seeded Yotes. After two walks set the table, she cleared the 225-feet sign in center field on a full count for the first runs since the fourth inning.
Carroll starter Tess Eaton had been working on a four-hitter before Mendiola's shot. She threw 166 pitches in the last game of the season for the Saints (19-24).
Hannah McNerney tosssed the first six innings and Colette Robert the final two for the Yotes, combining on a five-hitter.
GAME 7 – SOUTHERN OREGON 6, OREGON TECH 0
Gabby Sandoval broke another Cascade Conference record with her 13th shutout of the season in steering top-seeded Southern Oregon to a win against second-seeded Oregon Tech, making the Raiders the last unbeaten left.
Sandoval's three-hitter came a day after she set the CCC single-season wins record, and two days after she was named the CCC Pitcher of the Year. The Raider offense got her two runs in the third and four more in the fourth, taking some help from four Owls errors. Hannah Shimek went 2-for-3 with a triple, two RBI and a run scored, Lauren Quirke drove in two runs and Paige Leeper went 2-for-4.
Sandoval (29-3) only needed one strikeout over 80 pitches.
GAME 8 – COLLEGE of IDAHO 4, CORBAN 2
Colette Robert's four-hit complete game – in which she brought a no-hitter into the fifth inning – made the Yotes’ third win of the tournament their least stressful against Corban. She struck out one and walked two in improving to 21-5.
Corban (36-14) went through three pitchers who surrendered a combined 10 hits. C of I's Haley Loffer went 3-for-4 with a run scored, Taylor Eakle hit a pair of doubles and drove in a run and Marissa Maddox was 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI.