Drifters’ Late Push Falls Short in Series-Opening Loss to Portland
Ethan Atchley pitching for the Drifters (Photo by Ella Poor)
By Henry Light
SPRINGFIELD — The Drifters hotly pursued a Portland Pickles lead for seven innings of the series opener in Springfield, but even a second life from a dropped pop fly in foul territory that would’ve ended the game wasn’t enough to flip the 9-7 loss.
The Drifters’ (4-12, 1-6) newfound depth, with reinforcements arriving earlier this week as the 10-day players cycle out, was crucial to the comeback effort, with seven different players tallying hits and recent arrivals Zach Daigre and Hunter Meyer each walking three times at the top of Springfield’s order. Still, after the Pickles (8-8, 4-3) overcame a 2-1 deficit in the fourth inning, they built too much of a cushion for the Drifters’ late push.
“We’ve talked about this all year: we’re not gonna talk about the wins and losses as long as we have a chance to win over and over again,” Drifters head coach Jeff Lyle said. “Me and coach (Dean) Styles laugh about it all the time, that the sign of a good coach is winning one-run games, and we’re losing a bunch of one or two-run games right now, so I’m gonna wear this one.”
The Drifters’ offense fed off starter Ethan Atchley’s clean first inning, aided by a caught stealing from catcher LJ Layhew. After two quick outs, Cooper Mullens slowed things down by working a full-count walk and Layhew made it a two-out rally by lining a sinker up the middle. Pickles starter Joseph Perillo hit Nolan Miller to load the bases, but escaped the jam by striking out Zach Story.
Portland made the Drifters pay for their wasted opportunity in the second inning. Elijah McNeal reached on a fielder’s choice and advanced to third on an unlucky play for Drifters shortstop Zach Story, where a groundball skipped through to his right as he broke to cover second. That well-timed grounder made Kai Mault’s single run-scoring, and left the Drifters trailing 1-0 through two innings.
The Drifters strung together another threat in the third thanks to a walk and a hit-by-pitch from Perillo, which allowed Mullens to load the bases with a high-bouncing bunt single down the third-base line. Portland pushed back with a home-to-first double play, but Hunter Meyer tied the game on a passed ball and Miller gave the Drifters a 2-1 lead with a hard-hit ground ball up the middle.
Chase Logan manufactured the tying run for Portland in the top of the fourth, walking, stealing second, advancing on a groundout, then scoring on MD Conner’s single. The Pickles eventually retook the lead when Conner scored on a groundout.
After Pickles reliever Eli Solem struck out the side, Portland’s offense retained its momentum. Bryson Glassco and Luis Castillo reached on back-to-back singles before consecutive hit-by-pitches ended Atchley’s outing. Kaden Harris entered with a run-scoring hit-by-pitch before Bransyn Hong’s two-run single put the Pickles ahead 7-2.
At risk of being put away, the Drifters found their response in the bottom of the fifth. Daigre and Meyer reached on walks before Mullens advanced them with a bunt and Layhew was hit to load the bases. Jayden Aviña took over for the Pickles and struck out Miller, but Story brought the Drifters within three with a two-run single.
Portland’s offense remained in cruise control, with Roberts slapping a leadoff single and Glassco collecting his third hit of the game on a double. Luis Castillo extended the Pickles’ lead to 8-4 with a sacrifice fly.
Mullens tacked on a run by himself in the seventh inning, reaching on a fielder’s choice, stealing second, advancing on a wild pitch, and scoring on a sacrifice fly. The Drifters kept the rally going through a mix of discipline and Aviña’s loss of control. The right-hander loaded the bases with walks and allowed Layhew to score on a passed ball, cutting Portland’s lead to 8-6.
The Drifters could’ve avoided any damage from Roberts’ double when Castillo hit a sky-high pop-up above the pitcher’s mound with two outs, but nobody called it, and Roberts scored from second to push the lead back to three. Harris finished an excellent stabilizing outing for the Drifters with his fourth strikeout, allowing two runs on six hits over 3.2 innings to hold up his end of the comeback effort.
“I saw last year’s Kaden Harris,” Lyle said. “The mentality, the ‘give me the ball, I’m gonna go at you, I don’t care,’ and I thought all three arms tonight were that exact same way.”
Springfield continued its offensive push despite the added obstacle, starting with a pinch-hit single by Austin Takahashi, and turning into a rally through consecutive walks by Pickles reliever Luke Wallin. The Drifters settled for one run, courtesy of a hard-hit sacrifice fly by Layhew to make the score 9-7.
After Harris’ long relief success, Michael Klein stranded a leadoff hit-by-pitch at second base to allow the Drifters to clear the game by using just three pitchers and allowing the offense to win it.
Consecutive outs after a leadoff hit-by-pitch left the Drifters with just one out to finish the comeback, and even that out should have been made sooner when pinch-hitter Johnny Elliott popped a foul ball high into first base foul territory, but Castillo lost track of it. Elliott eventually worked an eight-pitch walk after falling behind 0-2, and the Drifters loaded the bases with Daigre’s third walk of the game to put the winning run on base and the tying run in scoring position. Rafael Espinoza recorded the elusive final out for the Pickles to solidify the two-run victory for Portland.
“We’ve had some guys that didn’t get to play all year, or a few guys that just got here who have been out for a week or two,” Lyle said. “The heart rate got up a little bit, but I was proud watching our hitters take a good breath, gather themselves and enjoy and owning the moment.”
First pitch for game two on Saturday is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Saturday’s game is the Drifters Bark in the Park night presented by McKenzie Feed. Fans in attendance can bring their dog to the game, and McKenzie Feed will be on site with a puppy photo station, samples, and plenty of itchy dog facts.
Tickets are available online at driftersbaseball.com. The game will be live-streamed for free on the Drifters’ YouTube channel.