SPRINGFIELD – The Springfield Drifters stopped a six-game losing streak with their 7-1 win over the Ridgefield Raptors on Sunday thanks to a stellar performance from pitcher Hunter Dryden. Dryden pitched 6 innings, allowing only 1 run and striking out 5. On the year Dryden has 27 Ks, seventh-most in all of the West Coast League.
“It felt good, I had my boys behind me today,” Dryden said in an interview on the team’s social media after the game. “It just felt good to get a win.”
It was a tough stretch of schedule for the Drifters, who are 11-13 on the season after the win. The Drifters had an away-home-away series against the Corvallis Knights, who are on a run of six consecutive West Coast League titles dating back to 2016.
The Drifters played the Knights (16-8, second in south division) close for the first two games, losing Game One 3-2 and Game Two 4-1 before falling 10-2 in Game Three. The Drifters then had a homestand against the Ridgefield Raptors, who are first in the South Division at 18-8.
After a Game One 6-0 loss and a Game Two 4-2 loss, the 7-1 Game Three win was key for getting the Drifters back on track. In addition to Dryden’s pitching, left fielder Bobby Blandford had 1 hit, 1 run and 3 RBIs, including a two-run double to open the scoring in the first inning. Center fielder Cole Kleckner added 2 hits, 2 runs and 1 RBI in the win.
Looking ahead, the Drifters finish the first half of the season this week with an away series at Cowlitz before a week off. Springfield returns from the break with a home-away-home series against the Knights from July 11-13.
In the West Coast League there are eight teams in the south division and eight in the north division. For the postseason, the top four teams in each division make the playoffs, meaning half the teams end in the regular season.
As of deadline, Springfield is tied with the Cowlitz Black Bears for fourth in the south division, and both sit one game ahead of the Bend Elks. If the Drifters want to make the postseason for the first time, it’ll be important to come out of the gates strong in the back half of the season.
The home-away-home series against Corvallis includes a bottle opener giveaway on taco tuesday, and thirsty thursday.
Drifters results, schedule, linescores
Tuesday, June 27
Corvallis 3, Springfield 2
Wednesday, June 28
Corvallis 4, Springfield 1
Thursday, June 29
Corvallis 10, Springfield 2
Friday, June 30
Ridgefield 6, Springfield 0
Saturday, July 1
Ridgefield 4, Springfield 2
Sunday, July 2
Springfield 7, Ridgefield 1
Tuesday, July 11
Corvallis Knights at Springfield Drifters, 6:35 p.m.
Wednesday, July 12
Springfield Drifters at Corvallis Knights, 6:35 p.m.
Line Scores
Tuesday, June 27
Corvallis 3, Springfield 2
At Goss Stadium
Springfield 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 – 2 4 2
Corvallis 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 – 3 7 0
WP-B. Kuehl. LP-Z. Ediger
Springfield: 2B-B. Blandford. HBP-C. Updegrave. RBI-B. Newton, R. DeAngelis. SB-B. Newton, R. DeAngelis. Team LOB-6.
Corvallis: HBP-J. Krieg. RBI-E. Hott, L. Jones. SB-B. Avila, L. Jones. Team LOB-11.
Wednesday, June 28
Corvallis 4, Springfield 1
At Hamlin
Corvallis 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 – 4 2 0
Springfield 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 – 1 5 2
WP-J. Wright. LP-S. Brinkley
Corvallis: HBP-J. Ng, M. Le. RBI-P. Call. SB-J. Ng, A. Aroz (2), E. Hott, T. Yukumoto. Team LOB-9.
Springfield: 2B-B. Blandford, J. Longo. HBP-B. Blandford. RBI-D. Johnson. SB-C. Kleckner. Team LOB-7.
Thursday, June 29
Corvallis 10, Springfield 2
Springfield 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 – 2 5 2
Corvallis 1 5 3 0 0 0 0 1 x – 10 8 0
WP-B. Jones. LP-T. Twist
Springfield: RBI-C. Mullens. Team LOB-8.
Corvallis: 2B-T. Quinn, E. Hott, J. Krieg. HBP-T. Quinn, E. Hott. RBI-T. Quinn (3), S. Stem (2), E. Hedges (2), E. Hott (3). SB-S. Stem. Team LOB-8.
Friday, June 30
Ridgefield 6, Springfield 0
At Hamlin
Ridgefield 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 – 6 7 0
Springfield 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 5 1
WP-S. Parkin. LP-B. Holmes
Ridgefield: 2B-J. Sharp. HBP-J. Sharp, J. Nicklaus, N. Seamons, T. Gomes, C. Nunez, C. Sheehan, R. Calvin. RBI-J. Tsukada, C. Nunez, C. Sheehan (2), R. Calvin. Team LOB-9.
Springfield: Team LOB-7.
Saturday, July 1
Ridgefield 4, Springfield 2
Ridgefield 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 – 4 7 0
Springfield 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 – 2 6 0
WP-C. Royle. LP-R. Haider
Ridgefield: 2B-A. Allanson, J. Nunez. 3B-J. Salmon. RBI-J. Tsukada (2), J. Nunez (2). Team LOB-2.
Springfield: 2B-J. Sheppard. HBP-C. Kleckner, J. Miller. RBI-B. Newton, C. Updegrave. SB-J. Miller. Team LOB-6.
Sunday, July 2
Springfield 7, Ridgefield 1
Ridgefield 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 1 7 0
Springfield 3 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 x – 7 12 1
WP-H. Dryden. LP-P. Sweeney
Ridgefield: 2B-A. Allanson, R. Calvin. RBI-Q. Scott. Team LOB-3.
Springfield: 2B-B. Blandford. HBP-C. Updegrave, D. Santana. RBI-C. Kleckner, B. Blandford (3), C. Updegrave, J. Miller, C. Mullens. SB-C. Kleckner. Team LOB-11.
