Late Surge Lifts Drifters Past Walla Walla
(Photo by Ella Poor)
By Knight Jarecki
WALLA WALLA, Wash. — Through seven innings, the Drifters' (6-13, 3-7) offense could only muster four hits and one unearned run. But after Drifters right-hander Sonny Pena struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh, everything changed for the Drifters' offense, as the momentum swung Springfield’s way. The once struggling Springfield offense exploded for three runs in the eighth and one run in the ninth for a come-from-behind 5-2 victory over the Walla Walla Sweets (11-11, 8-8) in the series opener Tuesday night at Borleske Stadium.
“Sonny came out, and you could just tell in his warm-up pitches that he was getting closer to being Sonny Pena. And he went out and was just straight up electric in the seventh,” Drifters Head Coach Jeff Lyle said. “And the guys came in, and I could just hear them talking like, ' Hey, let's get the lead right here.’ Like, that's all they wanted to do was get us a lead and let Sonny and Michael (Klein) finish it from there, because the way Sonny was throwing, he was unstoppable.”
Pena, who is still a little banged up after an early-season injury, was nearly unhittable, punching out the first five batters he faced and only allowing one hit in two scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth.
“Right now, I’m kind of just not overthinking it. I’m just leaving everything out there,” Pena said. “I was just locked in. It was Johnny and me. We were just rolling. Honestly, I think him catching, and just the pitches he was calling really helped out.”
The eighth inning offensive explosion began with a lead-off infield single by Rice outfielder Zac Daigre. After a groundout by Evan Thomas and a single by Cooper Mullens, Daigre advanced to third to put runners on the corners for Johnny Elliot. Elliott slashed a single up the middle to score Daigre and tie the game. Elliot advanced to second on a wild pitch before Nolan Miller roped a ball to right field for an RBI single to score Mullens and advance Elliot to third. Cal State Fullerton outfielder Hunter Meyer laid down a suicide squeeze to score Elliot and cap off a three-run inning that gave the Drifters a 4-2 lead.
Thomas singled in Aiden Gebhard in the top of the ninth to stretch the lead to three and give the Drifters extra insurance. Klein closed the door on the Sweets, striking out two batters and picking up his WCL-leading fourth save of the season in the bottom of the ninth.
As a whole, the Drifters pitching staff combined to allow just three hits across nine innings. Starter Colton Perez and reliever Jack Klee each allowed one hit and one run across three frames before Pena and Klein carved up the Sweets offense with seven strikeouts in the final three frames.
“The pitching staff was led by Colton. Colton came out after three innings and didn't have his normal good stuff. But he was able to compete and give us three solid innings and pass the baton there,” Lyle said. “We told these guys that it's easy when they have their stuff, when they're throwing the ball where they want. But pitching is also what you are and what you can get out of yourself when you don't have your A game. And that was Colton tonight. He just went out and battled.”
The Drifters and Sweets will meet again on Wednesday for the second game of the three-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 pm. The game will be streamed for free on the WCL Live App, and live stats are available at WCLStats.com.