ASHLAND, Ore. — No. 17 Oregon Tech won the Cascade Conference Softball Championships presented by U.S. Bank in extra innings. The last time the Owls won the CCC Tournament Championship was in 2012. Oregon Tech took advantage of another
Sarah Abramson gem, and a costly error to defeat College of Idaho 1-0 in eight innings, Sunday at University Field.
"This is just a great group of kids who have bought into the program and believe in each other," said head coach
Greg Stewart. "They are reaching their full potential and I could not be prouder. They are great teammates to each other and very selfless and high character people."
After Yotes' starter Hannah McNerney held the Owls to one hit through the first seven frames,
Jensen Becker led off the bottom of the eighth for OIT with a bouncer up the middle.
McKenna Armantrout bunted her into scoring position, and with one out Yotes' first baseman Lacie Miller fielded
Kaila Mick's grounder, stepped on the bag, then made a wild throw to third base attempting to get Becker, who got to her feet and strolled home without a play with the game winning run.
Abramson's fourth win of the tournament was a six-hit complete game with seven strikeouts and one walk. For the tournament, Abramson pitched 27 innings, had three-shut outs, allowed just two-runs while striking-out 21 batters to go 4-0.
The Owls (42-8), the No. 3 seed in the tournament, earned an automatic berth in the 40-team NAIA Softball Championships with the title. The Yotes, seeded second and ranked 15th, will hope for an at-large bid when the 40-team field is announced by the NAIA on Tuesday at 2:00 pm during the selection show on Play NAIA on facebook.
