Drifters Drop Series Finale in Victoria
(Photo by Alyssa Garcia)
By Knight Jarecki
VICTORIA, British Columbia — Wrapping up a long six-game road trip on Sunday in Canada, the Springfield Drifters (4-11, 1-5) struggled offensively in the series finale, losing 9-1 in a wire-to-wire loss to the Victoria HarbourCats (7-8, 4-5) at Royal Athletic Park. With the loss on Sunday, the Drifters have now dropped their fifth straight series to begin the summer.
“We played like we felt tired,” Pitching Coach Dean Stiles said. “I'm not sure that we competed at the level that we had previously during the trip. But again, learning experiences about how to be ready.”
The Drifters were hitless through the first four frames and finished with only four hits in the contest as the HarbourCats pitching staff shut down a Springfield offense that had scored a combined 24 runs in the first two games of the series.
“We didn't adjust with two strikes very well,” Stiles said. “Our swings were too long, too big. If we put the ball in play, you know better things happen. So in that sense, I think there's some maturity that needs to occur in terms of changing approaches at the plate, especially with two strikes. Those are things that we will address when we get back home and practice a little bit.”
Half of the Drifters' hits came off the bat of Brody Buhr, who finished 2-for-4 and picked up his fourth double of the season. The sophomore outfielder from Bushnell, who originally signed a 10-day contract with the Drifters, is now hitting .353 with four doubles and a home run across 13 appearances this season.
“He's answered and done what we've asked him to do,” Stiles said. “He picked out some pitches that he got into, and he'll be able to take that with him when he goes back to Bushnell in the fall.”
The Drifters' only run of the game came in the sixth inning. Tristan Jennings led off the inning with a single, and Jalen Riddle doubled with one out to put two runners in scoring position for Springfield. Cooper Mullens bounced a ball to second for an RBI groundout to score Jennings and put the Drifters on the board.
Colton Perez, a two-way player who is currently in the transfer portal out of Vanguard, started the game for Springfield on the mound. Perez began his outing allowing a solo shot to Victoria’s leadoff hitter, David Krahn, before settling in to finish with four strikeouts and just the one run given up across four innings.
“They could not hit his curveball,” Stiles said. “It was kind of a loopy, slower curveball, but it was effective. He threw strikes with it, and they didn't have an answer for it.”
The HarbourCats jumped on the Drifters bullpen, scoring eight runs on seven hits and nine walks across the final four frames. Sonny Pena, who was a little banged up to begin the week, pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless baseball out of the bullpen for the Drifters, striking out two and allowing just one hit.
“Sonny battled through it again,” Stiles said. “The command wasn't there with the fastball, but he was able to use his cutter and slider to bring it back, and kind of mitigate any sort of damage. So it's good to see him be able to pitch again. We're going to need somebody like him moving forward.”
The Drifters will return for a five-game homestand beginning on June 17, with a non-league game against the Cascade Collegiate Showcase Team. Tickets are available online at driftersbaseball.com. The game will be live-streamed for free on the Drifters ' YouTube Channel.