UBC Thunderbird Baseball Fan Page

1. UBC - Albertson and Concordia-Portland are improved over last year. Unfortunately for them, UBC, with the addition of Shawn Schaefer and Jeff Tobin to the starting rotation, the addition of Jon Syrnyk to the outfield, and Connor Janes coming of age as a hitter, the Thunderbirds are improved over last year, too. The Thunderbirds will retain their pennant without much trouble. So, to make this more interesting, I'll make an additional prediction: five UBC players will be taken in the 2006 MLB draft.

2. Albertson - The Coyotes are off to a good start. They still have Charlie Strandlund, and a couple of new guys who can hit. Better than last year, but still second place.

3. Concordia-Portland - I don't know how Coach Rob Vance does it. No scholarships, and it costs $26K/year to go to school there, but Vance manages to recruit lots of quality pitchers. The rotation that took them to the National Championship Tournament in 2004 is all gone now, but they have a couple of good ones in Bryan Goff and Mike Allen. They have also found a good hitter in Greyson Thain. The Cavaliers could challenge Albertson for second place.

4. Oregon Tech - They graduated their best pitcher (John Jefferson) and best hitter (Ryan Wilson). However, they still have a lot of returning players, and Coach Pete Whislers has shown the ability to field a competitive team year in and year out.

5. Corban - Here's a story that deserves to be told more often. Larry Casian took over as coach of The School Formerly Known As Western Baptist in January. He had a team with very little talent, but just missed the playoffs. It will be interesting to see what happens now that he's been on the job for a full year.

6. Eastern Oregon - They finished last last year. Unless they bring in a raftload of JUCO transfers, they will finish there again. (Note to EOU Coach Wes McAllaster and Assistant Coach Erik Stark: whatever you do, avoid getting a serious illness like leukemia. The EOU administration will put you out on the street.)

Now, to get to the National Championship Tournament, the Thunderbirds will have to beat the Region II champion. This is hotly contested every year, but Cal Baptist is undefeated as I type this,^* and it says here that the Lancers will be making a trip to Nat Bailey Stadium for the super-regional in May. On this occasion, pitches will not be required to have a six-foot arc, and there won't be a keg of beer at second base.

What happens after that? It says here that if the Thunderbirds make it to Lewiston, they will win a couple of games, but they aren't at the same level as the top three NAIA teams, Oklahoma City, Lewis-Clark State, and Cumberland U. Winning the championship requires the ability to beat teams like Cal Baptist and George Fox consistently, and at least break even against teams like L-C State. The Thunderbirds will have five chances to show what they can do against the Warriors, and the first two of these will happen at The Nat on March 21 and 22. Based on the way things look right now, however (these are "predictions", after all), I say that this will be the year that the Warriors win that elusive 14th national championship.

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^* Cal Baptist is 23-1 as of March 13.

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