KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Five seasons, five trips to the NAIA Softball World Series. Three consecutive Cascade Conference regular-season championships. A line-up and pitching staff loaded with talent. The table is set for the Oregon Tech softball team, as the 2025 season opens a week from Sunday.
 
The Lady Owls are coming off another banner year, finishing 49-12, placing fourth at the NAIA World Series. The club must replace a trio of leaders – All-America shortstop Kaila Mick, who hit .455, setting school records with 25 doubles and 11 triples, adding 62 RBI, center fielder Lexi Klum, who hit nine homers and drove in 56, along with pitcher Mckenzie Staub, the only hurler in program history to record 4-straight season with 19-or-more wins.
 
What Tech has is depth – especially in the pitching circle – as four quality arms will vie for innings. No. 1 starter Kacie Schmidt is back after winning 27 games as a junior, with closer Alli Parker battling with juniors Carli Moore and Jenna Gorden for the No. 2 role.
 
"We are blessed to have the experience in the circle with Kacie Schmidt, a 2-time All-American as our ace, winning nearly 60 games the last two seasons," said OIT head coach Greg Stewart. "Our goal is to find which one of our other three pitchers, who are all capable of great things, will be our Game 2 starter. Between Carli Moore, Jenna Gorden and Alli Parker, each of them have pitched well – we just need one of them to lock down that spot – and be able to throw quality innings in Game 2 of a doubleheader.
 
Schmidt was dominant in league play, winning her final 17 starts, finishing the season with nine shutout wins – including a no-hitter. She was dominant in the NAIA World Series winning a pair of games against the University of Cumberlands.
 
"Kacie is as strong, if not stronger than she has ever been," Stewart said. "She is throwing the ball with great command and throws strikes and hits her spots."
 
Who claims the No. 2 starter spot will be determined during the toughest preseason schedule in program history – including a trip to Oklahoma where the Owls will play five games against teams ranked in the Top-25.
 
Parker finished last season 2-0 with a 2.04 ERA and a league-best five saves – earning crucial outs in a home wins over both Southern Oregon and College of Idaho. Moore, a power pitcher with great movement, recorded a 0.64 ERA in 11 innings last season, while Gorden used a redshirt season, with her lone start a road victory over Arizona Christian.
 
"We are going to throw them into the fire during our preseason and it will be critical for them to throw strikes and understand they have eight really good defenders behind them," Stewart said.
 
Working with the pitchers is 3-year starting catcher, Jayce Seavert – one of the top backstops in the NAIA.
 
"The leadership we get from Kacie Schmidt and Jayce Seavert, who have been mainstays in our program – those two have done a remarkable job in helping our younger athletes get accustomed to what we do and building team chemistry that is so important," Stewart said.
 
Seavert battled through injuries throughout 2024, still posting a .353 batting average with 36 RBI, earning All-CCC honors.
 
"Jayce does such a good job of being on the same page as our pitchers, calling such a good game and being on the same page to call the pitches that they want to throw," Stewart said. She is swinging the bat better than I've ever seen her swing it. That will bode well for our offense as her extra-base hit production will definitely go up."
 
Behind Seavert is senior Marla Goodspeed and junior transfer Sawyer Stenson. Goodspeed is Tech's true Swiss Army Knife, as she will begin the season as the starting right fielder, but can also play a corner infield position in addition to catching. Goodspeed hit .237 with eight RBI, while starting every 2024 NAIA postseason game.  Stenson had a banner 2024 season at Lower Columba CC, hitting 24 home runs and driving in 80, earning All-NWAC, NFCA All-America and Diamond Catcher of the Year.
 
"Marla is very cerebral and handles our pitchers well, which will allow us to not have to have Jayce catch all 50 games," Stewart said. "She has improved so much as a hitter – we are going to need to have her in the lineup. She has worked so hard in her conditioning, her strength, her approach at the plate and fans will notice a cannon of an arm in right field. Sawyer has some great experience and will give us some good innings – and will only get better learning from a catcher the caliber of Jayce."
 
With Goodspeed playing right field, Tech has moved returning starter, Malia Mick, to center field. The junior had a tremendous 2024 season, hitting .322 with four triples and 16 RBI – earning key experience defensively.
 
"Malia can cover a lot of ground and it's why we've moved her to center," Stewart said. "She will make some spectacular plays on balls hit to the gaps."
 
Four-year starter, Zoe Allen, returns in left field – fully healthy after missing the final month of the 2024 season due to injury. The senior was key in the No. 2 spot in the batting order, hitting .376 with 11 doubles and 22 RB, adding 17 stolen bases.
 
"Zoe has been a linchpin at the top of our lineup getting on base and it is great to have healthy again," Stewart said.
 
OIT will have depth behind the trio – as transfer Jazmine Macias, along with freshmen Leah Huffman and Ashlyn Vea make up a strong group of outfielders. Macias earned All-America honors at Cerritos CC, earning NFCA Gold Glove and Golden Shoe awards – hitting .418 with 32 RBI, while leading all California community colleges with 52 stolen bases. Huffman drove in 40 runs, earning All-Desert West honors in Arizona, with Vea leading South Umpqua High to a 3A state crown.
 
The Lady Owls return 2-year starters at both corner infield positions, as juniors Puakea Milbourne and Addison Kachnik have played each of the 125 games during that period.
 
Milbourne had a monster 2024 season, earning All-Cascade Conference honors at first base – hitting .370, while leading the team with 13 home runs and 67 RBI. The junior, who was the NAIA Gold Glove winner at first base in 2023, led Tech with six hits at last season's NAIA World Series, earning All-Tournament honors.
 
"It was great to see Puakea get to that next level and become an all-conference performer and make the All-Tournament Team at the World Series," Stewart said. "She continues to get stronger."
 
Kachnik improved her offensive numbers in 2024, hitting .309 with two homers and 23 RBI. The junior was key defensively at third base, one of the toughest positions on the diamond.
 
"I look for Addison to be our difference maker – she could be the x-factor," Stewart said. "If she plays as well this spring as she did last fall and continues to gain that confidence both offensively and defensively, I don't think there is a better third baseman in the league."
 
Up the middle, All-America second baseman Nita Cook is back after a dynamic 2024 season. Cook moved into the leadoff spot early in the season and ran with it, hitting .375 with 13 doubles, seven triples, six home runs and 33 RBI, while stealing 21 bases.  Defensively, she led all NAIA second basemen with a .991 fielding percentage.
 
"I've been blessed with many great players, but I have never had a second baseman who can cover so much ground and has such great hands," Stewart said of Cook. "Nita did such a great job becoming a more consistent hitter, limiting strikeouts and using her speed to get on base. She was critical in the improvement of our offense from the 2023 to the 2024 season."
 
Replacing a 5-year starting shortstop will be difficult, especially after the season Kaila Mick put up in 2024. The Owls will look to sophomore Gina Allen and junior Hayden Rockwell to fill the void.
 
"It's going to be hard for us to replace Kaila's numbers with just one kid – as you can't find many players that will hit .450 with 25 doubles – but we look for our kids to step up," Stewart said.
 
Allen will open the year as the top shortstop, a year after helping Mount Hood CC win the NWAC title. She earned All-NWAC honors after hitting .497 with 16 home runs and 55 RBI.
 
"Gina has stepped up and answered the call," Stewart stated. "She is an outstanding athlete with tremendous speed and explosiveness and people will notice quickly that she will make some plays defensively that haven't been made for a while."
 
Rockwell will also be squarely in the mix a year after leading North Idaho College to the NWAC title game – hitting 25 homers with 73 RBI, earning NFCA All-America and Gold Glove honors.
 
"We have two capable players at shortstop and I feel it will be a combination of who hits and can defend the position," Stewart said. "Hayden has the ability to not only play shortstop, but also play second or third if we need her."
 
The 12-game non-conference schedule will be a grind for the Lady Owls – starting next Sunday with a doubleheader at Simpson. After playing road doubleheaders at Division III Pacific and Lewis & Clark, Tech heads to Oklahoma for a gauntlet – a doubleheader vs. No. 2-ranked Science & Arts, followed by the NAIASB Invite – meeting Central Methodist, Midland, Oklahoma City and Bellevue in the span of 48 hours.
 
"Opening up against Simpson will give us an idea of where our pitching is," Stewart said. "The trip to Oklahoma will be as good of a test as we've ever had in the preseason. To open up against No. 2 USAO in a doubleheader and then to meet Top-10 teams in Central Methodist and Oklahoma City and Top-25 teams in Midland and Bellevue, we are going to have our hands full – as we will face top-tier pitchers every game. It will be a positive to see what we have to improve on – it will be just like playing at the World Series."
 
The Cascade Conference schedule will feature Tech playing just four home series – with the Lady Owls opening against a Top-25 Eastern Oregon team, but have to play both Southern Oregon and College of Idaho on the road. For OIT to defend their league crown, a good start is imperative.
 
"We need to play with confidence from the beginning," Stewart said. "Two of our first three conference series will be against Top-20 teams in Eastern and Southern - in order for us to win a fourth league title in a row, we need to come out winning at least 2-of-3 counting games in the those games. This league is so competitive from top-to-bottom, especially the top five teams. We are excited for the challenge."