Drifters Rout Ridgefield on Record Setting Night
Evan Thomas racing up the line in a game against Ridgefield on July 31st. (Photo by Isaac Abrego)
By Henry Light
SPRINGFIELD – The Drifters opened their penultimate series of the season with storylines outside the game swirling, such as the WCL South playoff race and numerous franchise records. Springfield put together a comprehensive response to a tough loss on Thursday with a 14-7 win over Ridgefield on Friday, breaking several new single-season records along the way.
Springfield’s (22-27, 19-21) offensive momentum from a 38-run series in Yakima survived an overnight bus ride that got them home at 6 a.m., and the Drifters secured the win over Ridgefield (28-21, 22-18) early with a seven-run second inning. The Drifters’ playoff chances rely on help from other teams, but every win the rest of the way makes the clinching scenarios more realistic.
“It's nice this late in the season when we go slap hands after a game to see how long the line is. Like, we’ve got guys leaving, and we have guys coming in,” Lyle said. “They do want to win. They want to compete. They want to come out and finish the season and let the scoreboard and standings fall where they fall, but this energy and effort is what we’ve talked about all season.”
The Drifters’ offense took a first-inning lead through three consecutive singles by Hunter Meyer, Cooper Mullens and Nolan Miller. Miller’s RBI single tied his own Drifters single-season RBI record of 31 from last season, which Mullens also tied in Yakima.
“Guys are wondering if I'm gonna spread them out so that they stop stealing each other's RBIs,” Lyle said. “The friendly competition is just really cool, and I don't know if it actually means anything to either one of them, but to the rest of their teammates, it does — it’s a really cool thing.”
Springfield broke the game open with a five-hit, three-walk second inning, coming out ahead 8-0. Evan Thomas put an exclamation mark on the frame in his second at-bat of it, grounding a three-run triple inside the first base line and down the right field line.
Ridgefield’s lineup came alive in the third inning, loading the bases and halving the Drifters’ lead to four before Springfield could record an out. Mullens and Kahaku Harrison turned a bases-loaded double play to avoid further damage.
The Drifters’ massive inning continued to loom as each team put together run-scoring frames. Meyer and Mullens started another rally from the top of the order in the fourth to put Springfield ahead 9-4, and Ridgefield cut the lead to three with a two-run fifth inning.
Miller and Mullens’ race to the former’s RBI benchmark came to a head in the bottom of the fifth with the bases loaded when Mullens walked in the record-breaking run before Miller, not to be outdone, re-took the record from Mullens with a two-RBI single to bring his total to 33.
“Honestly, like, it's crazy to say, and it's not just, like, coach talk: Neither one of those two cares. Like, they just want to compete and do what they can to help themselves win,” Lyle said.
The Raptors clawed back a run in the sixth inning, but the Drifters pushed the final margin to seven with an RBI double by Elliott Brown and a run-scoring error by Chase Nye in the eighth.
Although Ridgefield put runs on the board, Springfield cleared the game with four arms crucially eating innings as pitch counts tighten late in the season. Gabe Howard recovered from the four-run third inning to take on the fourth, ending his day with a jumping play on a ground ball.
“Gabe’s a dog,” Lyle said. “For him to be able to go back out and be a bulldog after giving up the four-spot was huge for us.”
Finn Wood and Matthew Tacheny each had promising two-inning season debuts for the Drifters, with Wood striking out two batters to hold the Raptors to one run, and Tacheny allowing just one base runner.
“Matthew Tacheny comes in tonight and hasn't been on the mound live since his last outing at Linfield, and he was absolutely lights out,” Lyle said. “We hadn't seen Wood throw before, and he comes out, and he's 18 years old, but he looks like a grown man, and I guarantee his heart was pounding up there, but you see him finally take a deep breath and go get two successful innings.”
First pitch for Game 2 on Saturday is set for 6:35 p.m. Saturday’s game is the Drifters' finale fireworks night of the season! Please note, youth ages 12 and under and Willamalane 1PASS holders do not receive free admission to this event. Tickets are available online at Driftersbaseball.com.
The game will be streamed on the Drifters’ YouTube channel or on the WCL Live app for free.