Drifters Debrief: Week Six
Austin Wolfe Pitching for the Drifters in 2023
Springfield — Springfield Drifters Alum Austin Wolfe (2023) broke the Bushnell Baseball record for strikeouts in a game, fanning 13 Oregon Tech batters across eight innings on Saturday. The southpaw only walked one batter and allowed just two runs enroute to his fourth victory of the season. Wolfe now has four games with eight or more strikeouts this season.
Danny Womack, Wolfe’s teammate at Bushnell who is returning to the Drifters in 2026 after playing with the squad in 2024, had his best offensive weekend of the season, driving in seven runs while going 5-for-13 at the plate in the series win for the Beacons. On the other side, Nick Gimino (2025) performed well at the plate for Oregon Tech. Gimino went 7-for-16 with a home run, three RBIs, and five runs in his return to Hamlin Sports Complex.
Down the road at PK Park, Drifters alum Dominic Hellman (2022) and Ryan Cooney (2023) continued to find success for the Ducks in their series win against Northwestern. Hellman smashed four home runs across three games, finishing with eight RBIs and five runs scored in three starts versus the Wildcats. For his effort, Hellman was named the co-Big Ten Conference Player of the Week. Cooney homered twice while hitting .583 (7-for-12) in the weekend series with three RBIs and two runs scored.
Andrew Gauna (2024 & 2025) also hit above .500 this weekend, going 6-for-11 for San Diego. The outfielder had four RBIs, two doubles, two walks, and two steals for the Toreros in their three-game series against Gonzaga.
On the mound, several Drifters Alum had great weekends. AJ Victoravich (2025) pitched three perfect innings and struck out one across two outings versus Cal Poly Pomona for Cal State Stanislaus, and Ryan Haider (2023) pitched two perfect innings with three Ks in two appearances against Grand Canyon for Washington State. Eli Holbert (2022 & 2023) struck out six batters across 3.2 innings of one-run baseball for VCU, and Isaac Evaniew (2022) had his best outing of the season for Arkansas-Little Rock, striking out three batters in three innings of work.
Looking ahead to 2026, Luis Pablo Navarro, Hunter Meyer and Ethan Atchley all stood out for their respective squads. Navarro, a left-hander from Tulane, struck out five batters in two innings pitched against Northwestern State and Memphis. Meyer, who is an outfielder at Cal State Fullerton, finished 3-for-8 at the plate with an RBI and a steal across two contests against UNLV and CSUN. Atchley, who will be joining the Drifters pitching staff this summer from Rice, only needed 27 pitches to get through three scoreless innings of work against South Florida, only surrendering one hit.
Other notable accomplishments from this week include alum Gage Bruce (2023 & 2024) hitting his first career home run for Portland on Sunday, Jaxson Kister (2025) going 5-for-14 with three doubles against #1 Dennison for Linfield and Caden Young hitting a pinch-hit, walk-off, two RBI single for Fordham against Richmond.
You can view the full list of Drifters alumni currently playing college baseball on the alumni and records page here.
The Springfield Drifters begin their fifth season of West Coast League baseball on May 29, with their first home game scheduled for June 2. You can view the full schedule here. Season tickets are now on sale at driftersbaseball.com with single-game tickets available beginning April 2.