Late Comeback Falls Short as Pippins Defeat Drifters 3-2

Jake Fritz delivers a pitch for the Drifters in a game against Yakima Valley on June 4th.

By Dillon Zamperin

SPRINGFIELD — Following a thrilling 3-0 win during the home opener yesterday, the Springfield Drifters were looking to ride the wave into Wednesday’s game and take their first season series of the year against the Yakima Valley Pippins, but a strong start by Yakima Valley and a late home run for the Pippins propelled YVP to victory as the Drifters fell 3-2 to the Pippins on Wednesday night.

“We had a plan to attack their starting pitcher, who we had some really good reports on, and I’ll say that backfired on us a little bit. I’ll wear that one,” Head Coach Jeff Lyle said. “We quickly got behind in the count against him, and they played solid D[efense] when we put the ball in play.”

After Tristan Ledbetter’s success on Tuesday, Ledbetter seemingly passed the baton and secrets on how to pitch to the Pippins to Jacob Fritz, who pitched a second straight five-inning scoreless effort from the starting pitching. The future graduate of Crescent Valley High School in Corvallis rewrote his story on Wednesday night after a rough outing against the Bend Elks on Sunday, where he failed to pitch a full inning.

“Throwing a lot of strikes has definitely been one of the strong suits that I’ve been trying to work on this year,” Fritz said. “[I’m] super happy about that and super happy to keep going forward with this.”

In his first start of the year for the Drifters on Wednesday, Fritz threw five hitless innings, with only three batters reaching base safely via walks. The future freshman of San Diego Mesa College also struck out four batters on 78 pitches in a near-perfect start.

“He hasn’t graduated high school yet, so him just coming out and being able to take a breath, be at home and go out and do his thing was great,” Lyle said. “It was a big confidence builder for the rest of the staff.”

The 14.1 scoreless inning streak — combined from Tuesday night’s shutout — was broken in the sixth inning following a passed ball by catcher Drew Holman.

The story of the game, however, was Yakima Valley’s pitching, which, similar to Springfield on Tuesday, shut down the offense. The first two Pippins’ pitchers combined for just two hits and six strikeouts, quieting the Drifters’ bats quickly and effectively.

The effort started with Pippins’ starting pitcher, Jake Cumming, who threw five innings, allowing just two hits — one to second baseman Jalen Riddle of Lane Community College and another to designated hitter Mana Heffernan of Bushnell University. 

Former Drifter Daichi Furuhata had Yakima Valley's first hit in the sixth inning, lacing a ball down the left field line for a leadoff double. He later came in to score the first un of the game for the Pippins on a two-RBI double by Cam Fleck. Later in the eighth, Furuhata led off the inning with a solo shot to left field to put the Pippins up by three. Furuhata’s home run, his first of the season, was ultimately the winning run in the 3-2 decision. 

The Drifters bats finally got rolling in the bottom of the eighth when outfielder Aiden Gebhard led off the inning with a walk before stealing second for his league-leading eighth steal. Following a scary hit by pitch to the helmet of Riddle, where he stayed in the game, the two performed a double steal with Gebhard scoring the first run for Springfield and Riddle advancing to third on an error by the Pippins’ catcher.

Riddle would come around to score on a sacrifice fly from first baseman Nolan Miller, putting the Drifters down by just one run. The rally would end there, and it would fail to reprise again in the ninth, as Springfield’s offense was sent down in order, as the Drifters lost by just one run for the second time in the last three games.

“We have a resilient group here,” Lyle said. “It’s the gift and a curse of the short-term memory that these guys have.”

The Drifters will look to win their first series of the year against the Pippins on Thursday night at Hamlin Sports Complex. First pitch of the rubber match is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.

“It’s an energy and attitude game for us every finishing game of the series,” Lyle said. “If we bring that energy, bring that attitude tomorrow [and] come out with a little bit of a chip on our shoulder, we’ll be fine.”

Thursday is Fishing Night, celebrating Oregon’s strong fishing culture. The Drifters will be giving away a FREE half-day fishing trip for two, courtesy of McKenzie River Fishing Guides and Rafting Tours, as well as a $50 discount on any full- or half-day bookings made on Thursday night. Additionally, Coors Light will be 50% off all game long to celebrate Thirsty Thursday at Hamlin Sports Complex.

Tickets for Thursday’s game can be bought online at Driftersbaseball.com. The game will be streamed on theSpringfield Drifters YouTube Channel.