COLBY, Kan. (KJCCC.org) – With 76 total points and four first-place votes, Butler Community College has been picked to defend their 2024 Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Division 1 Softball title by being picked to win the 2025 regular season crown following a vote of the nine league coaches as part of the 2025 KJCCC Division 1 Softball predicted order of finish poll.
Having won 14 of the last 17 KJCCC regular season titles, Butler will look to continue their recent dominance that has seen seven NJCAA Division 1 Softball World Series appearances since 2016 which includes back-to-back National Championships during the 2016 and 2017 seasons. The Grizzlies saw the remaining five votes come in the form of a second-place finish by KJCCC coaches to edge out reigning NJCAA Division 1 Softball Plains District Tournament Champion Hutchinson Community College who was picked second with 71 total points and four of the five remaining first-place votes in the preseason poll.
After the Blue Dragons, Barton Community College was picked third with 62 total points as the Cougars were picked by all nine coaches to finish no lower than fourth and well ahead of fourth-place vote-getter Colby Community College who received 45 total points in the poll. Following Colby is Dodge City with 43 total points along with Seward County (39 points), Garden City (38 points, one first-place vote), Pratt (22 points), and Fort Hays Tech Northwest (9 points).
The 2025 season will kick off on Friday, January 31st with four teams (Garden City, Barton, Hutchinson, and Dodge City) all in action with the remaining teams all starting their seasons the following week. The start of KJCCC play will take place on February 26th with each of the nine conference schools playing a home-and-home four-game doubleheader against the remaining conference teams for a 32-game conference schedule throughout the season with regular season competition set for April 26th.
The top eight teams in the final regular season standings will earn a spot in the 2025 NJCAA Division 1 Plains District Softball Tournament which is scheduled to take place May 2-5 at Legends Park in Dodge City, Kansas. The double-elimination tournament will see the tournament winner earn a bid into the 2025 NJCAA Division 1 Softball World Series which will take place May 19-24 in Yuma, AZ as the World Series returns to the Grand Canyon State for the first time since 2022.
