SPRINGFIELD – Bobby Blandford’s two-out, RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning Saturday night lifted the Springfield Drifters to a 4-3 victory over the Cowlitz Black Bears at Hamlin Field.
“It was really satisfying coming off the bat of Bobby Blandford, who’s been doing a lot of good things for us,” Drifters manager Tommy Richards said. “He’s kind of been our emotional leader, and he’s been having a lot of good at-bats lately, so it’s great to see him pick us up. But we have to do more of that as a group.”
Before Blandford’s big hit, the Drifters kept mounting two-out rallies, but couldn’t get the timely hit to take the lead. Part of the problem was that Black Bears left fielder Michael Monda made two sensational catches to prevent runs from scoring.
First, in the bottom of the seventh with a man on, Ryne Hays drilled a shot toward the left-field corner that Monda tracked down to make an amazing diving catch.
“That’s probably the best play I’ve seen (this year), especially considering the situation,” Richards said. “We would have scored the go-ahead run there.”
Then after Blandford’s big hit, both runners advanced on the throw home, bringing up Charlie Updegrave, who drove the ball deep to left field. Mondo slammed into the wall, but managed to hold onto the ball.
“I thought he caught it and dropped it when he hit the wall,” Richards said, “but what actually happened was his glasses went flying. I was confused, but the ump said that’s not one to argue there, he caught it. He made a good catch.
“I guess he’s a 10-day temporary guy, so he may have earned a chance to stick around for a while.”
Monda’s heroics kept the score at 4-3, but that was no problem for Beau Burnett. The closer from Eugene, who went to Churchill High School, pitched two scoreless innings to keep his ERA at 0.00.
“Our entire bullpen did a great job and kept us in the game,” Richards said. “Burnett just competes, man. He has a big heart and we like him at the back end.”
Blandford went 3-for-5 Saturday night and is now batting .367. Outfielder Cole Kleckner, who went 1-for-2 with 3 walks, is hitting .500.
Saturday night’s emotional victory was offset somewhat by a 9-8 loss Sunday to Cowlitz as the Drifters went 2-4 on their six-game homestand. They are in fourth place in the West Coast League’s South Division, three games behind the Ridgefield Raptors.
Richards remains undeterred, as new players have been coming and going as the Drifters try to find a winning combination.
“We have a locker room full of really good guys,” he said, “but we have some new guys now so it’s kind of like starting over in a way, trying to build our chemistry.”
Results/Schedule
Tuesday, June 20
Bend 7, Springfield 2
Wednesday, June 21
Bend 4, Springfield 3
Thursday, June 22
Springfield 6, Bend 5
Friday, June 23
Cowlitz 5, Springfield 2
Saturday, June 24
Springfield 4, Cowlitz 3
Sunday, June 25
Cowlitz 9, Springfield 8
Thursday, June 29
Drifters at Corvallis, 6:35 p.m.
Friday, June 30
Ridgefield at Springfield, 6:35 p.m.
Saturday, July 1
Ridgefield at Drifters, 6:35 p.m.
Sunday, July 2
Ridgefield at Drifters, 1:05 p.m.
Monday, July 3
Drifters at Cowlitz, 6:35 p.m.
Tuesday, July 4
Drifters at Cowlitz, 1:05 p.m.
Wednesday, July 5
Drifters at Cowlitz, 6:35 p.m.
Drifters Linescores
Tuesday, June 20
Bend 7, Springfield 2
(Home games at Hamlin Field)
Bend 0 2 1 3 0 0 0 0 1 – 7 13 0
Springfield 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 2 7 4
WP-J. Elder. LP-H. Dryden
Bend: HBP-R. Christiansen. RBI-E. Jackson, B. Terry (2), M. Molony, T. Peterson. Team LOB-11.
Springfield: 2B-J. Longo. RBI-R. DeAngelis, R. Cooney. SB-B. Blandford. Team LOB-9.
Wednesday, June 21
Bend 4, Springfield 3
Bend 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 – 4 8 2
Springfield 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 3 6 3
WP-R. Rembisz. LP-T. Newmann
Bend: 2B-E. Jackson, T. Peterson, E. Thomas, M. Molony (2). HR-L. DiPiaolo. RBI-E. Jackson, T. Peterson, R. Cedillo, L. DiPiaolo. SB-E. Jackson. Team LOB-8.
Springfield: HBP-B. Blandford (2). RBI-R. Kellum, R. DeAngelis. SB-C. Kleckner, D. Santana. Team LOB-7.
Thursday, June 22
Springfield 6, Bend 5
Bend 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 1 0 – 5 6 1
Springfield 0 0 1 0 2 0 1 2 x – 6 11 2
WP-B. Armstrong. LP-B. Waiolama
Bend: 2B-S. Meier, J. Hoskins. HBP-M. Molony. HR-B. Sylvester. RBI-S. Meier, B. Sylvester (2), L. Alwood, J. Hoskins. SB-T. Peterson, M. Molony. Team LOB-6.
Springfield: 2B-J. Longo, B. Blandford, C. Updegrave, R. Cooney. HBP-D. Santana. HR-C. Updegrave. RBI-J. Longo (3), C. Updegrave, R. Cooney (2). SB-C. Kleckner. Team LOB-8.
Friday, June 23
Cowlitz 5, Springfield 2
Cowlitz 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 – 5 7 2
Springfield 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 – 2 10 1
WP-K. Ethridge. LP-Z. Ediger
Cowlitz: HBP-E. Mann, B. Larson. HR-A. Singer. RBI-A. Singer (3), G. Jay, L. McCollum. Team LOB-8.
Springfield: 2B-R. Kellum. RBI-C. Kleckner. SB-D. Santana, J. Miller. Team LOB-7.
Saturday, June 24
Springfield 4, Cowlitz 3
Cowlitz 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 3 5 2
Springfield 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 1 x – 4 6 2
WP-B. Burnett. LP-J. Meek
Cowlitz: HBP-E. Mann. RBI-G. Jay, L. McCollum, C. Monda. SB-E. Mann, L. McCollum. Team LOB-11.
Springfield: 2B-B. Blandford. HBP-C. Updegrave (2), R. DeAngelis, D. Johnson. RBI-J. Longo, B. Blandford (2). SB-C. Kleckner. Team LOB-12.
Sunday, June 25
Cowlitz 9, Springfield 8
Cowlitz 0 0 4 0 0 0 2 3 0 – 9 12 1
Springfield 1 0 0 3 0 2 1 0 1 – 8 12 1
WP-R. Moring. LP-B. Armstrong.
Cowlitz: 2B-S. Canton, A. Singer, E. Mann. HBP-S. Canton, T. Peterson. HR-E. Mann, G. Jay, T. Peterson. RBI-S. Canton (2), E. Mann (3), G. Jay, T. Peterson, C. Monda. SB-S. Canton, A. Singer. Team LOB-7.
Springfield: HBP: J. Longo, H. Dryden. HR-H. Dryden. RBI-C. Kleckner, B. Blandford (2), J. Sheppard, H. Dryden (2), C. Calnon (2). Team LOB-12.
