Ninth Inning Heroics Push Springfield Past Marion for Third Straight Series Win
(Photo by Alyssa Garcia)
By Dillon Zamperin
SALEM — On July 1, the Springfield Drifters (15-23, 12-17) won their first series of the year against the Marion Berries (14-22, 10-19) in a tight one-run win. 17 days later, the Drifters won their fourth series in their past five and their second against the Berries in a back-and-forth battle, defeating Marion 8-4.
The Drifters have now won their last three series, with the exclamation point coming Saturday night against the Berries once again.
“It was nice to see us get tested and have some guts down the end with some at-bats and pitching,” head coach Jeff Lyle said. “It was an exciting team win. Really exciting.”
After the Berries tied the game at four apiece in the eighth inning, Northwest Nazarene outfielder Aiden Gebhard and Lyle had one thing on their mind: lay down a bunt and hope to reach base safely. After a successful try with a similar situation in the seventh, both Drifters knew it would work — and it did.
“The kid runs like the wind, and we knew that we could make somebody on the right side of the diamond have to field the ball so that he had a really good chance of being safe,” Lyle said. “He knew that if he could get on, it was the way for us to start a rally. He used his small ball ability to create that.”
Gebhard then proceeded to steal second base for his 20th stolen bag of the year while Hunter Meyer and Chase Nye each reached base after him, setting the table for the longest-tenured Drifter Cooper Mullens with no outs.
Since the start of the season, Lyle has talked about a batter needing to get a “big hit” to break open a game. That seemed to finally happen for Mullens, as the redshirt junior second baseman from Michigan stepped up to the plate and hit a bases-clearing triple to right field to give the Drifters a three-run lead. He would come around to score on an error by the Berries and finished the night with four RBIs.
“Anytime you can hit a triple with the bases loaded, that’s definitely a big hit. With it coming in the ninth inning of a tie ballgame, that’s as big as it gets,” Lyle said.
Nearly the same sequence happened previously in the seventh inning, right after the Berries tied the game 3-3. Gebhard bunted, advanced to second and eventually scored on an RBI groundout from Mullens. Gebhard finished the night with two bunt singles and two runs scored.
The Drifters’ scoring started early during the second inning with a two-run home run from freshman shortstop Kahaku Harrison. The Rice commit extended his hitting streak to six games with a homer to dead center and finished the night with the two RBIs.
After starting the season with just one hit in his first 14 games, Harrison has turned his summer season around and is now hitting .368 over his last six games.
“It’s great to see for him. It’s rewarding. He’s reaping the benefits of all the good conversations about hitting he’s had with the guys and all the good work he’s putting in,” Lyle said. “He’s able to slow the game down, swing at good pitches and control the zone offensively.”
One of the best sights from the game was the return of redshirt freshman Evan Thomas. The outfielder from UC Santa Barbara made his first appearance in the lineup since July 2, when he suffered an injury despite reaching base safely in the previous six plate appearances before exiting.
Thomas made an immediate impact in his return to the lineup as he blasted a double down the right-field line and scored the first run of the game for Springfield. He reached base three times in the win, in what turned out to be a great game back.
“He’s a game-changer. To see him back on the field, even though he’s not 100% healthy and put some good swings on the ball… It’s great,” Lyle said. “He extends our lineup and makes our lineup really long.”
Springfield’s pitching staff helped keep the Drifters in the game all night, combining for four runs and ten strikeouts in the win.
Junior right-hander Gabe Howard from Oregon started his first game on the mound for the Drifters on Saturday night. Across three strong innings, Howard allowed just one run on two hits while striking out three Berries in his longest outing of the season.
After Howard, senior right-hander Blake Stavros of Bushnell tossed two near-perfect innings on the mound, while facing the minimum. He struck out one batter and now has not allowed a run in three straight appearances.
Senior Michael Klein from Rogers State University, who came in during the seventh inning, allowed a game-tying solo home run in the eighth but settled in after that and ended up striking out the side. Despite not recording the save, Klein got the win, which marks his first of the season. Across 2.2 innings, the left-hander struck out five Berries while only allowing three hits and bouncing back from a blown save.
The Drifters move to 5-0 on the season against Marion — 9-2 all-time versus the Berries — and have a chance to sweep the second series of the season. So far this July, Springfield has an 8-5 record for their best month of the season.
Springfield will go for another sweep against Marion on Sunday at 5:05 p.m. The game will be streamed on the Springfield Drifters YouTube Channel and the WCL Live App for free.