Drifters Debrief: Week Two

Dylan Carson celebrates after hitting a home run for the Drifters

SPRINGFIELD — Springfield Drifters players past and present put on a show this past week, highlighted by a historic performance from local standout Dylan Carson.

Carson (2024 & 2025), a Churchill High School graduate, had a record-setting performance for Bushnell on Saturday, going 8-for-9 with five home runs, 12 RBIs and one steal across two games against Warner Pacific. This included a 5-for-5, four-homer, nine-RBI effort in Game 1 of the Beacons' doubleheader. For his effort, he was named the Cascade Collegiate Conference’s Player of the Week. Carson is the third Drifters alum to win CCC Player of the Week honors this season.

The senior outfielder now has nine home runs and 26 RBIs while hitting .362 through 16 starts. Carson’s nine home runs lead NAIA, and his 26 RBIs lead the CCC and rank fourth nationally.

Carson’s teammates at Bushnell, Austin Wolfe (2024) and Kai Keamo (2022), also had strong outings for the Beacons this weekend. Wolfe, who was named CCC Pitcher of the Week a week ago, threw six innings of two-run ball with eight strikeouts against Warner Pacific. Keamo, a left-hander from Hawaii, struck out eight in a 21-1 win over Warner Pacific on Saturday. He now has three straight outings with eight or more strikeouts and sports an impressive 31-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 18 innings this season.

Just down the road at PK Park, Drifters alum Toby Twist (2023) earned his first win of the season for Oregon on Friday against Youngstown State. The left-hander from Bakersfield, California, tossed five innings with five strikeouts, allowing two hits and one earned run in his first start of the season. Ryan Cooney (2023) went 5-for-17 with two doubles, six runs and one RBI in four games against the Penguins, batting leadoff for the Ducks.

Diego Chavez, who pitched for the Drifters in 2022 and 2025, delivered his best performance of the season for William Jessup this weekend. The right-hander from Oxnard, California, threw seven scoreless innings with two hits allowed against Hawaii Hilo on Saturday. Chavez now has a 0.95 ERA across three starts, with only four hits and two earned runs permitted in 19 innings.

Elsewhere, Drifters alums Matt Quintanar (2022), Eli Kennel (2024) and Mac Moyer (2022) all succeeded at the plate. Quintanar, a two-time NJCAA Region XIV Player of the Year at Blinn College, went 10-for-21 with three doubles and four RBIs for Texas Tech in five games against UT-Rio Grande Valley and Albany. Kennel, now at Linfield after a pair of seasons at Washington State and Oregon State, hit a home run and two doubles for the Wildcats in three games against La Verne this weekend. Moyer, son of longtime MLB pitcher Jamie Moyer, started four games for Nebraska over the weekend. The former Oregon outfielder went 6-for-13 with seven walks, two doubles and three runs against Stanford, Louisville, Kansas State and Florida State.

Drifters fan favorite Andrew Gauna (2024 & 2025) went 5-for-12 with seven RBIs over the weekend, including a 3-for-5, four-RBI game against rival San Diego State for the University of San Diego. Gauna’s 2025 Drifters teammate Bryant Starr also impressed, going 5-for-15 with two doubles, one triple, five RBIs, four runs and three steals for Linn-Benton against Clark.

Looking ahead, incoming Drifters Ethan Atchley, Diego Vazquez and Peyton Tyner stood out at their individual institutions. Atchley, a right-hander from Rice, needed only 45 pitches for four perfect innings against USC over the weekend. The Heath, Texas, native struck out five with no hits, walks or runs allowed in a dominant relief outing for the Owls. Vazquez, an Oregon State commit, had a big weekend against Sacramento City College, going 6-for-12 with three doubles, eight RBIs and four runs for Fullerton College. Tyner hit .500 (7-for-14) with six runs, two RBIs and three walks for Lane against Spokane in four games for the Titans.

Johnny Elliott, joining the Drifters this summer from Tulane, treated himself to his first home run of the season against top-ranked UCLA to celebrate his birthday last Tuesday. He also added a double and scored two runs in two games last week. 2026 Drifter Zach Story also hit a home run this past week, going 2-for-6 at the dish with 3 RBIs for UC Davis.

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.