Jimmys Softball faces Arizona Christian in Oregon – Jamestown Suns

Jamestown - The University of Jamestown softball team officially has a first-round opponent in the 2025 NAIA Softball National Championship.

At noon Monday, May 12, at noon at the region’s top seed Oregon Institute of Technology, the fourth seed Jimmies will face off against the No. 5 seed Christian University of Arizona.

"A little shocked, but maybe," Jimmies head coach Kevin Gall said. "…I thought we could go to Iowa or Missouri, but we were going to Oregon to play Arizona. …I kept thinking about myself going to the Sioux Center in Iowa. Usually they call them, and they usually call you if you're flying, so you can start preparing, so we didn't start flying yesterday, so we don't need to fly anymore, so I'm somewhere, I think about 600 miles in time.

Jimmies (35-15) and Firebirds (27-25) have been playing three times with a record of 2-1. The most recent game between the two teams is this season on March 3, with Jimmies winning 13-5 in six innings. During that victory, Jimmies' Maddie Spaeth led her team to 4-4 with 4 RBIs and two runs.

"I think they're a team that's improving, and as we've improved throughout the year, I'm sure they have it, too," Gal said. "Their coach (Mike Mayben) is a former national champion at NAIA, so I'm sure he'll be ready to go. I'm sure we have that movie, too, and I remember watching movies. So we can watch movies and hopefully play them well."

Jimmies made his first NAIA Championship since the 2017-18 season. In the run that year, Jimmys defeated Oklahoma Wesleyan 1-2 while losing to the University of Midland (Nebraska).

Jimmys will now have five days to fight the Firebirds.

“We have to plan the flight, we have to complete some reconnaissance reports,” Gal said. “So we (we) have to do the exercises tomorrow and then based on our flight time, I want to get there a few days in advance, but I don’t know if we can do that.”

Jamestown softball coach Kevin Gall celebrated with his team and fans at a watch party Wednesday, May 7, 2025 to see where Jimmies will go and play in the first round of the National Championships. The team will head to Klamas Falls, Oregon next week.

John M. Steiner / Jamestown Sun