UBC Thunderbird Baseball Fan Page

This year's Region I season (the last one under the current playoff structure) starts February 29, with UBC at Corban, and Oregon Tech at College of Idaho. Lewis-Clark State is hosting Gonzaga, and Concordia-Portland plays home-and-home with Western Oregon.

Here's this year's obligatory predicted order of finish for NAIA Region I:

1. Lewis-Clark State: The defending national champions sent eight players to pro ball, but they should still be good enough to repeat as Region I champions. The Warriors' offensive star this year is Paul Martin, currently hitting .483. Their pitchers include Matt Fitts, who was drafted last year, but chose to spend another year in Lewiston, and Mike Guerrero. You can read L-C State's story here.

2. U. of British Columbia: The Warriors will win the pennant on consistency, but the Thunderbirds will improve over last year, and they should be looking pretty good by the time that first home game comes around on March 15. They already look good defensively. Mike Styrna, Scott Webster, Ryan Pilgrim, and Alex White are hitting the ball well. The Birds have some good returning pitchers, Andrew LaFleur, Greg Chong, Kurtis Schumacher, and some very good new ones, Ashton Florko, Josh Brink, and Taylor King. UBC Athletics preview

3. College of Idaho: Like last year, the Thunderbirds and the Coyotes should be a good matchup, but the Birds win out on pitching. Their offensive returnees include Dane McGrady and Luke Howarth. Their pitching staff includes two British Columbians, Andrew Brock (Burnaby), and Jason Barry (Castlegar), but their best guy is Joey Zubizarreta. Click here for their season preview.

4. Concordia-Portland: The Cavaliers had huge graduation losses, but once again, Coach Rob Vance has managed to recruit some good pitchers. This year, it's Ross Conway and Brett Hawley. They've also added a guy who can hit, Roberto Reyes of Monterrey, Mexico.

5. Corban: The Warriors have one of the youngest coaches in college baseball, alum Nate Mayben, and he did OK last year. They have RHP Jordan Emery back, and OF Jamie McGraw.

6. Oregon Tech: The Hustlin' Owls are 1-7 so far this season. I don't see this trend changing.

Bonus predictions: Whoever wins Region I has to get past the champion of the Golden State Athletic Conference (Region II) to get to the NAIA championship tournament in Lewiston, ID. The GSAC is a very competitive league. My choice is defending champion Azusa Pacific, but The Master's might make a run at it.

After the super-regional, there's several viable contenders for the national championship, including Lee, Azusa Pacific, Lewis-Clark State, and Lubbock Christian. I picked Oklahoma City in a column for The College Baseball Blog in December. With the Stars currently at 15-1, I'm sticking with that prediction. Look at it this way; Oklahoma City and Lubbock Christian are both in the same region, so only one of them can make it to the national championship tournament. The one that does should have the inside track.

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