SPRINGFIELD –As the first full weekend of college baseball wraps up, there are 92 former and current Springfield Drifters on rosters at 52 colleges across all levels of competition. It includes 51 baseball players competing in Division I at 28 schools.
Former Drifters played key roles during Oregon’s 6-2 opening-day win over George Mason last Friday. In fact, an ex-Drifters hit party broke out during the second inning. Jack Brooks (2025) and Ryan Cooney (’23) each singled on bunts before Dominic Hellman (’22) smashed his first home run of the season, scoring all three Drifters alums.
Helman finished the weekend 5-for-15 (.333) with the home run, four RBIs, and 5 runs scored. Cooney also hit a home run over the weekend and finished his first series going 8-for-18 (.444) with two doubles, six RBIs, four runs, and three steals. Brooks, who got the start in centerfield for the Ducks this weekend, scored 7 runs from the 9-spot while going 5-for-12 (.417) at the plate with two steals and a triple.
Pitchers Matthew Tacheny and Kaden Harris, who will both return to Springfield this season for the wood-bat summer league, impressed over the weekend. Tacheny, a junior at Linfield, tossed five innings of one-run baseball against Eastern Oregon in his first start as the Wildcats’ ace. Harris earned his first win at Mount Marty University, throwing five innings and striking out four against Hesston College.
Future Drifter Kota Watanabe also picked up his first win of the weekend. The right-hander from Japan struck out six batters over 6 innings in a 7-4 win for Coalinga College over Hartnell.
Several Drifters alums also put up strong performances on the mound over the weekend. Austin Wolfe (’23) struck out nine batters over seven scoreless, one-hit innings for Bushnell in a 9-1 win for the NAIA Beacons over NCAA DII’s Saint Martin’s. Wolfe was named the Cascade Collegiate Conference Pitcher of the Week on Monday to become the second Drifters alum to win CCC honors after Chase Nye (’20 & ’25) won Player of the Week honors a week ago. Diego Chavez (’22 & ’25) was near perfect for William Jessup as he only allowed four walks across six scoreless, no-hit innings for the Warriors while striking out four against Vanguard Friday. Trey Newmann (’23), who transferred to Portland this spring after spending last season at TCU, impressed in his Pilots debut, striking out six across 3.2 innings of scoreless baseball vs. Purdue.
Michael Klein, the Drifters leader in innings pitched in 2025, pitched another two scoreless innings for Rogers State University in Oklahoma. The left-hander is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA and 8 strikeouts across 3 outings and 8.1 innings.
At the plate, Drifters alum Jaxon Kister (’25), Cesar Chavez (’25) and Dylan Carson (2024-25) all stood out for their respective squads. Kister, an outfielder at Linfield, was the Wildcats’ best player offensively over the weekend, finishing 7-for-12 (.583) with two doubles, one home run, seven runs, five RBIs and four steals in a sweep of Eastern Oregon. Chavez, who performed well in his opening weekend for Cal State Los Angeles, continued to find success at the plate. The junior outfielder hit his first career home run and finished with 6 RBIs during a 6-15 weekend. Carson, a local product from Churchill High School and Bushnell, hit two home runs and had a double with 5 RBIs during a 5-13 weekend at the plate against Saint Martins.
Nick Gimino (’25) continued his hot start with Oregon Tech, going 6-for-15 with a home run, four RBIs and four runs scored vs. The Masters. Gimino is hitting .459 with 11 RBIs, two doubles and one home run across nine starts for the Owls. The Corvallis native also has hits in all 10 games that he has played in and three multi-hit performances, including a 3-3 outing on Sunday.
The Drifters begin their fifth season of West Coast League baseball on May 29, with their first home game scheduled for June 2.
Learn more online: www.driftersbaseball.com
