TUESDAY: DRIFTERS 8, PICKLES 4
■ PORTLAND – Hunter Meyer took the first pitch he saw in the third inning and hit a game-tying, two-run homer to left field and Springfield won 8-4 at Portland. Chase Nye (2-for-4, RBI, BB) and Meyer (2-for-4, 2 RBI, BB) packed a punch at the top of the lineup, while the middle of the order turned key at-bats and rallies. “Hitting’s just contagious,” head coach Jeff Lyle said.
“The guys talk to each other, and they have good feel, they have good reports, so the conversations after each at-bat are just leading to good takes and good swings.” He credited Meyer for sparking the team. “Moving (him) down a little bit gave him more freedom to be aggressive in the strike zone and not feel like he’s a leadoff hitter, and it showed,” Lyle said.
Drifters starting pitcher Griffin Scott battled through frequent deep counts to strike out four batters and hold the Pickles to three hits when Jake Fritz took over in the fifth. The victory on Tuesday was only the Drifters’ third win in Portland all-time and their first since July 28, 2023.
THURSDAY, GAME 1: PICKLES 5, DRIFTERS 4
■ PORTLAND – The Pickles scored on a wild pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning for a walk-off victory against the Drifters in the first game of doubleheader. Wednesday’s game had been postponed due to weather. Drifters designated hitter Evan Thomas, who also walked on five pitches, brought home Springfield’s first run in the top of the third inning.
Cooper Mullens and Nolan Miller scored just seconds later when catcher LJ Layhew hit a double down the right field line, giving the Drifters a 3-2 lead. Utilityman Matthew Bolinger kept the offense rolling with his second base hit of the day, scoring Thomas and making it a 4-spot for Springfield. Bolinger ended 2-for-3, his first multi-hit contest as a Drifter in only his fourth game.
“He’s a really good hitter,” Lyle said between games. “He’s really good behind the plate and really just a savvy baseball guy.” After the Pickles tied the game in the fifth inning with an RBI single. Drew Miller came out of the bullpen and pitched two scoreless innings.
GAME 2, DRIFTERS 10, PICKLES 6
■ PORTLAND – Six of the Drifters’ first eight batters reached base, including utilityman Chase Nye, who walked and scored on a balk to lead off the game. Moments later, Evan Thomas hit a single to left-center field, scoring Nolan Miller. The lead was doubled when third baseman Jaycob Villalpando was hit by a pitch, and three pitches later, left fielder Karsten Hansen legged out an infield single to make it 4-0. Springfield’s lead closed to one by the fourth inning, when righty Trey Thompson needed only six pitches to record three outs and get out of a jam. “It was a test of wills today,” Lyle said. “To come out and put up four, and then don’t [score] again until the fifth inning and having them punch back, only for us to score six in the inning is huge.”
The momentum carried over to the Drifters’ offense, when the bases were loaded on a single and two walks. A pitching change didn’t help the Pickles’ situation, as Karsten Hansen watched four straight fastballs miss the zone, bringing a much-needed insurance run across. Chase Nye hit a two-run single to bring the lead back to four. One batter later, outfielder Hunter Meyer homered to left field for a 350-foot, 3-run blast to stretch the Springfield lead to seven. “This will be Meyer Park when he leaves here,” Lyle joked.
FRIDAY: DRIFTERS 6, BERRIES 1
■ SPRINGFIELD – The Drifters strung together a dominant all-around win in their series opener against Marion, with timely defense and the pitching staff combining for eight strikeouts in the 6-1 victory. Springfield didn’t allow a hit through four innings, and after a perfect relay from the wall to home plate kept a Marion runner from scoring in the top of the fifth, the Drifters’ offense put up a game-winning three-run rally. The defense turned double plays in the eighth and ninth innings. “We talked about how there’s getting guys out, and then there’s letting guys get themselves out, and we allowed them to get themselves out tonight,” Drifters pitching coach Dean Stiles said.
“When they’re successful, that feeds the offense, and we got some key hits and some key situations came together.” Ethan Atchley gave the Drifters three scoreless innings to start the game while only one base runner reached on an error. After Atchley’s start, Ezra James gave the Drifters a season-high 53 pitches across three innings of one-run ball, while striking out three Berries. Colin Gebler then pitched through the seventh and eighth innings, and Carlo Ramirez finished the eight-strikeout, one-run game.
SATURDAY: DRIFTERS 4, BERRIES 3
■ SPRINGFIELD – Drifters’ starter Gabe Howard struck out seven batters over five innings while pushing his highest pitch count in Springfield to 74 from 53 and the offense delivered when it needed to as the Drifters beat Marion 4-3.The Marion bullpen kept the game within reach, and the Berries’ closed the gap with a three-run seventh inning, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Drifters from taking the series. “Gabe Howard came out and set the tone and just threw the ball with a lot of electricity and an amazing amount of command and confidence,” Lyle said. “His patience and tempo is really, really fun to watch.”
Chase Nye lined the first pitch of the game into left field for a single, and Nick Gimino turned it into a rally with a single of his own. A bunt advanced the runners, allowing Preston Armstrong to open the scoring with a groundout and Zach Story to put the Drifters ahead 2-0 with an infield single.
Aiden Gebhard kept the offense going with a one-out single in the second. He promptly found himself caught between first and second after a pickoff attempt, but ended up advancing all the way to third on an errant throw. His aggressive baserunning helped cash in a run and extend the lead to 3-0 after Nye grounded out.
SUNDAY: BERRIES 7, DRIFTERS 6 (10)
■ SPRINGFIELD – After taking an early lead, the Drifters strung together multiple late rallies in pursuit of a sweep of the Berries, but Marion pulled out a 7-6 win in 10 innings. Springfield took a 2-0 lead thanks to a triple and a home run by Kahaku Harrison and a scoreless four-inning start by Aiden Gebhard, but mistakes on the mound and in the field spotted Marion too many runs to catch up. The three-error night reversed the trend of consistent defense for the Drifters, but the series win over Marion keeps them squarely in the playoff race.
“It’s a tough loss when you go 10 innings and leave it all on the table, but there’s some good things that we saw,” Drifters pitching coach Dean Stiles said. “We saw eight arms tonight, we got a chance to see some new kids, and we’re gonna bounce back and head for Yakima with our heads up, ready to go again.”
Gebhard finished a strong start by escaping a first-and-third, no-out jam in the fourth inning. He earned his fourth and fifth strikeouts before ending the inning with a pop out. “I think when he throws his changeup and then comes back with his breaking ball, it helps with the extension, and of course his fastball is pretty electric for his size,” Stiles said.
Note: Capsules compiled and edited from information provided by Drifters interns Henry Light, Addison Cerezo and Dillon Zamperin.
