British Columbia and Lewis-Clark State in NAIA Opening Round

British Columbia will be traveling to Santa Barbara, CA for the NAIA Opening Round, which starts Monday, May 15. This bracket is hosted by Westmont. The Thunderbirds are the #4 seed. Their first game will be against the #5 seed U. of Antelope Valley (Lancaster, CA). The winner will play #1 seed Westmont later in the day. The other game on the first day will be #2 seed Benedictine-Mesa (Arizona) vs. #3 seed Vanguard (Costa Mesa, CA).

The Santa Barbara Bracket is, at least according to the ISR, by far the strongest of the ten brackets. Westmont is #1 in the ISR, and British Columbia is #4. So, if the Thunderbirds get by Antelope Valley, the matchup against Westmont should be even.

Antelope Valley’s roster includes IF Kaiden Cardoso of Abbotsford, BC and LHP Colby Ring of Langley, BC. Cardoso is batting a torrid .455, with 16 home runs and 51 RBI. Ring has 12 starts, with a record of 5-1, 4.67 ERA, and a team-best 67 strikeouts.

The Thunderbirds defeated Benedictine-Mesa 5-3 in February. Ryan Heppner got the win, and Aaron Marsh hit a three-RBI triple.

Tournament site

Video (Westmont does a great job with this)

The winners of the ten Opening Round brackets become the field for the NAIA Baseball National Championship in Lewiston May 26-June 2.

Lewis-Clark State hosts a bracket at Harris Field; this is now an annual event. They are seeded #4. They will play #1 seed Hope International (Fullerton, CA) in the first game. Hope International is #2 in the ISR, and the Warriors are #5, so this should be an even matchup. The second game will be #2 seed U. of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (Chickasha) vs. #3 seed Concordia-Ann Arbor (Michigan). According to the ISR, this is the second-strongest of the ten brackets.

Tournament site

Video Audio