With the Blue Jays still adding players this offseason, it may be hard to believe that the club’s pitchers and catchers are set to report to Spring Training in just over two weeks. The UBC Thunderbirds, widely regarded as one of the top collegiate baseball teams in Canada, get started even earlier. The team will make the trip down to Florida this week, where they get set to kick off their season with eight out-of-conference games, including their opener against NAIA #1 ranked Tennessee-Wesleyan on Wednesday.

UBC has the distinction of being the only Canadian university baseball team in the country that plays against American schools. They play in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC), an NAIA conference with teams located in Oregon and Idaho. A new school joined the CCC this year in Warner-Pacific, pushing the total number of teams to eight.

Once conference games begin at the end of February, teams will match up with a school for a four-game series, typically involving double-headers on both Saturdays and Sundays. The Thunderbirds play their home games out of Tourmaline West Stadium on UBC’s campus, hosting a total of 20 games over five weekends this spring.

Led by head coach and former big leaguer Chris Pritchett since 2015, UBC is typically one of the top two or three best teams in the CCC, with their last conference championship coming in 2023. Winning the conference secures a spot in the NAIA World Series, which is the ultimate goal for any team at this level. UBC has never in their history won the NAIA World Series, but has come within striking distance before.

For over 20 years, UBC has established itself as the best school for Canadian baseball players to attend. Not only does the school provide them with exposure to pro scouts, but they’re also renowned for its academics.

A total of 27 players have been drafted by major league teams, with Jeff Francis (9th, 2002) being the most notable. That total does not include Adam Maier, our 17th-ranked Canadian baseball prospect, who spent the 2020 season at UBC but was ultimately drafted by the Atlanta Braves out of the University of Oregon in 2022.

Two members of the 2024 squad heard their names called in last July’s draft. Pitchers Sean Heppner (12th round, Cleveland) and Vicarte Domingo (19th round, San Diego) became the first drafted players from UBC since the 2021 season and the first time multiple players have been selected in the same year since 2016.

“UBC has a history of producing pro talent since before I got here,” Pritchett explains, speaking with Blue Jays Nation. “With the draft shrinking from 40 rounds to 20 rounds, and maybe down to 15 in the future, there’s the question of whether we could still have guys get drafted. Recruiting becomes a little easier when you can show that our school is a viable path to pro ball.”

Losing two premium pitchers presents a challenge for Pritchett and his coaching staff, but leaning on his returning pitchers should help dampen the blow of losing Heppner and Domingo.

Ryan Beitel returns as a key starter for the Thunderbirds, a year after he led the team in innings pitched (79.0) while trailing only Heppner in strikeouts (78). Injuries limited him in the summer while playing for the Bellingham Bells of the West Coast League, but Beitel is healthy and ready to go for the start of the year. Entering his last year of eligibility, he’s eager to end his collegiate career on a high note.

“I definitely know as a team, our goal is to make it all the way to the World Series and win it.” Said Beitel, speaking with Blue Jays Nation. “This is a big year for our team in terms of having a lot of older guys, a lot of seniors that have been here for quite a while. So they know the program, they know the ropes. Honestly, our expectations are crazy high and I love it. We’re pushing each other every day, keeping those standards. I’ve seen a huge difference in the growth of our team from that.”

Also returning to the T-Birds rotation is Heppner’s younger brother Ryan, a third-year pitcher who missed time last season but still ended up producing a 3.96 ERA and 1.01 WHIP through ten appearances (five starts). Although he may not have the overpowering fastball that his brother has, his command allows him to limit walks and attack hitters with ease.

Pritchett knows that to have a successful season, they need a full team effort that involves leaning on his returning players. However, he and his coaching staff were also able to acquire a pitcher via transfer who should be a key part of the club in 2025.

“We want to rely on our returning guys while also having some of our newer guys contributing.” Said Pritchett. “We’ve got a transfer from Arizona named Kansai Sugimoto that we expect to slot into our top two slots in our rotation.”

Sugimoto is a 6’2″, 235-pounder from Japan who transferred from Yavapai College in Arizona this year. He struck out more than a batter per inning last year but struggled at times with his command. Entering his third year of eligibility, the righthander sits in the mid-90s with his fastball and flashes some devastating off-speed pitches. It didn’t take long for Beitel and the rest of the pitching staff to realize that they may have something special.

“We look at his splitter when he throws it and it’s just insane,” Beitel explained. “We sit there with the radar gun and with the Rapsodo to see the metrics and we’re just like, how is that possible? The velocity he throws at and the movement in his pitches is wild. I want to say it was like 85 to 88, which was crazy to me. It has a late break and it just kind of tumbles. I haven’t seen many guys hit it so far in preseason.”

Beitel, Heppner, and Sugimoto may be locked in as starters, but other pitchers’ roles will be carved out as the season goes along. Right-hander Daniel Orfaly and lefty Will Anderson were used both as starters as well as bulk relievers last year, and both may be in line for similar usage going into the year.

As far as the bullpen goes, first-team, All-Conference right-hander Evan Hoegler returns to the relief corps and is expected to be the team’s most-used reliever in high-leverage spots this season. Last year, he led the team with a 2.12 ERA, 0.97 WHIP and six saves through 16 appearances. Lefty Oliver Duthie and right-hander James Brock will also return and be relied on as key relievers for the Thunderbirds.

It’s not very often that a school gets the opportunity to run it back with all of their key offensive players from the year before. The pandemic cancelled the 2020 season led to players getting an extra year of eligibility, leading to more than usual upper-year players.

“With the COVID year, it’s the most veteran team I’ve ever had here,” Pritchett explains. “We’ve got several 5th-year guys and even a 6th-year guy.”

The team will be led by two first-team All-CCC winners from last year, first baseman Trent Lenihan and outfielder Mitchell Middlemiss. Both players posted gaudy offensive numbers in their third seasons, with each bopping ten home runs to pace the Thunderbirds’ lineup. Middlemiss’ poise in big moments helped fuel his breakout, which included hitting not one, but two walk-off home runs last year.

“The first one, it was on my mom’s birthday,” Middlemiss explains to Blue Jays Nation. “A whole bunch of my family was there to see, so it really meant a lot. I find myself to be super calm and collected in most situations. I don’t get tense or stressed or anything. I feel like that is credited to my second sport growing up being tennis, which can be very mentally taxing.”

Other key players that will hit in the top half of the T-Birds lineup include outfielder Jonny McGill and second baseman Aaron Marsh, both of whom were first-team All-CCC in 2023. It wouldn’t be surprising if any of the top four hitters end up producing league-leading numbers. Two other key members contribute as much value defensively as they do at the plate. Shortstop David Draayers and former Canadian Junior National team catcher Russell Young are also vital to UBC’s success and will be relied on all season long.

Each of the six aforementioned hitters enters their last year of eligibility, making it that much more important for the veteran group to seize the moment.

The top four teams in the CCC will play a double knockout tournament at the season’s end to see who represents the conference at the NAIA World Series. UBC has reached the World Series in each of the last three years, either from the conference tournament or via an at-large bid. They’ve had some big moments over the years, but haven’t yet been able to string together enough wins to get to the final.

“Last year, we did a preseason trip to California,” Middlemiss explains. “We played Hope International, who ended up winning the World Series, and we swept them in February. So when we see the results of the season from last year kind of play out, we kind of understand that we’re able to play at this level and compete with these people. It all just needs to come together at the right time.”

After starting their season in Florida, the Thunderbirds will return home and play host to Eastern Oregon on February 22nd to open their conference schedule. That will start their journey towards Lewiston, Idaho, where the NAIA World Series will be held from May 23-31.

Pritchett’s team knows that contributions will be needed up and down the roster if they hope to achieve their ultimate goal. For the upper-year players on the roster, this season represents their last chance – and perhaps their best chance – to bring the NAIA World Series trophy onto Canadian soil.

“Every year, teams kind of say, oh, this is the year that we’re going to do something,” said Middlemiss. “I think with how experienced and prepared we are this year, this is genuinely the year that we have a shot to make a really deep run into the playoffs and World Series.”