COLBY, Kan. – Following last year’s Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference regular season title and NJCAA Division 1 Softball Plains District Tournament crown, the Butler Community College softball team has been picked to win the 2026 KJCCC Division 1 softball regular season title following a vote of the nine league coaches as part of the KJCCC Division 1 Softball predicted order of finish poll.

Winners of 15 of the last 18 KJCCC regular season titles, Butler will look to continue their recent dominance that has seen eight NJCAA Division 1 Softball World Series appearances since 2016 which includes back-to-back National Championships during the 2016 and 2017 seasons. The Grizzlies earned seven of nine possible first-place votes for a total of 79 points under fourth year head coach Morgan Bohanan following last year’s saw 45-9 overall record. Both of the remaining two votes for BCC came in the form of a second-place finish by KJCCC coaches to finish 13 points ahead of both Barton Community College and Hutchinson Community College who tied for second in the poll with 66 total points as each team received one first place vote.

Outside of the top three of the preseason poll, Garden City was picked fourth with 49 total points, edging out southwest Kansas rival Dodge City who was picked fifth (46 points) along with sixth-place Colby Community College (43 points). The final three teams in the poll saw Pratt (25 points) picked seventh, followed by Seward County (21 points), and Fort Hays Tech Northwest (10 points).

The 2026 season will kick off on Friday, January 31st with two teams (Garden City and Barton) in action while Fort Hays Tech Northwest, Seward County, and Dodge City will all open their 2026 campaigns the following day. The start of KJCCC play will take place on March 4th 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 regular season.

The top eight teams in the final regular season standings will earn a spot in the 2026 NJCAA Division 1 Plains District Softball Tournament which is scheduled to take place May 8-11 at Legends Park in Dodge City, Kansas. The double-elimination tournament will see the tournament winner earn a bid into the 2026 NJCAA Division 1 Softball World Series which will take place May 25-31 in Oxford, AL at Choccolocco Park.