For the first time since September, the UBC baseball team will take to the field in Lewiston, Idaho at the LCSC Guardian Plumbing, Heating and A/C Tournament.
The T-Birds’ opponents this upcoming weekend include Northwest Nazarene University, Corban University and defending NAIA World Series champions Lewis–Clarke State College. Chris Pritchett — who succeeded Terry McKaig as the team’s head coach back in June — expects the weekend to be a challenging one.
“We do have some strong opponents to open up with. The first month, we’re playing against … highly ranked NAIA teams,” said Pritchett.
Last season, UBC played a total of 10 games against the teams they will be facing this weekend and came out with a 2-8 record. Despite previous struggles, Pritchett feels confident that his T-Birds are ready for action.
“I think that we’ve been doing a good job of working hard and getting better. We don’t know their competition, what they’re like yet, but I think that we’re ready to compete,” said Pritchett.
The last time the T-Birds’ saw action on the field was back in September when they notched six wins against the Thompson Rivers University Wolfpack, four of which were shutouts.
Although the T-Birds haven’t taken to the field since beating Thompson Rivers, the UBC Indoor Baseball Training Centre, which opened concurrently with the fall season, has enabled the team to train extensively over the past four months, which had never been possible before.
“[The facility] has been huge because we’ve been able to prepare ... like we haven’t had the chance to before,” said Pritchett. “All of our players, every single one of them, made great strides over the fall and winter. Now it’s just a matter of transferring or transitioning from the batting cages to the field.”
Pritchett also said that this year’s pitching staff will be particularly key towards success in the upcoming tournament. Notable pitchers on this year’s roster include Academic All-American Alex Webb and Honourable Mention All-American Curtis Taylor, who had earned run averages of 2.15 and 1.02 last season, respectively.
“That veteran pitching staff has already had some success. It’s definitely the heart of our team. They’re going to be a strong point going into our season and we’re going to rely on them,” said Pritchett.
On the batting plate, notable T-Birds include first baseman Bruce Yari, centre fielder Tyler Enns and third baseman Anthony Cusati.
The first game kicked off on February 5 against Northwest Nazarene and the ’Birds won 8-3.
The 'Birds then went on to beat Corban 4-2 and fell to Lewis—Clark State 5-1.