Coeur d'Alene Pitcher Kristine Schmidt Wins CCC Softball Pitcher of the Week Honor

Kristine Schmidt knows the path from Coeur d'Alene to a college pitching award. She walked it herself: Coeur d'Alene High School to North Idaho College, then across the state line to Klamath Falls, Oregon, where she now anchors the Oregon Tech pitching staff as a junior right-hander wearing No. 24.

The Cascade Collegiate Conference made Schmidt's dominance official last week, naming her Softball Pitcher of the Week following one of the most impressive stretches of pitching in Oregon Tech's already stellar 2026 campaign. Over 17 innings of work, she allowed just one run on six hits while striking out 19 batters. The centerpiece came in the opening game of a four-game series against the University of British Columbia: a career-high 11 strikeouts in a one-hit complete-game shutout. She returned to the circle to earn the win in Game 2 as well.

The Lady Owls swept that British Columbia series, outscoring the Thunderbirds 22-4 and stretching Oregon Tech's winning streak to 10 consecutive games. The victories pushed Oregon Tech's record to 27-3 and moved the Owls into sole possession of first place in the CCC standings. The program, which also earned Under Armour Team of the Week honors for the same stretch of play, has won four straight CCC regular-season titles and is squarely in the hunt for a return to the NAIA Softball World Series after missing it last season for the first time in five years.

For Schmidt, fitting into a veteran-heavy program as a first-year transfer has come naturally. Head coach Greg Stewart put it plainly: "For a first-year player in our program, it's always kind of hard to feel at home as quickly as returners or players like our fifth-year seniors. But she's fit in great and has been a great leader on and off the field."

That transition reflects a longer arc rooted in Kootenai County. Schmidt's development ran through Coeur d'Alene High School and then North Idaho College before landing her at the four-year level in the NAIA. The pipeline from CdA High to NIC to a nationally ranked program is precisely the pathway local coaches point to when developing younger pitchers in the region, and Schmidt's weekly conference award gives that argument a name and a stat line: 19 strikeouts, one run, 17 innings.

Oregon Tech continues CCC play over the next several weeks with conference tournament positioning on the line. The full schedule and live game stats are available at oregontechowls.com, and CCC standings and weekly award announcements are posted at cascadeconference.org.