Sonny Pena Earns WCL All-Star Honors Ahead of Third Career Transfer

(Photo by Alyssa Garcia)

By Henry Light

California native Sonny Pena has ridden the wave of college baseball pitching to three in-state schools in three years, and for the second year in a row it’s brought him to Springfield for a Summer in the transfer portal.

This summer, with his final year of eligibility lying ahead, Pena has earned WCL All-Star honors with one of the best stretches of his college career, including 12.1 consecutive scoreless innings from June 14 to July 7. The right-hander has filled every pitching role yet imagined in his college career, but he credits his comfort in the Drifters organization for his run of success as a late-inning reliever.

“It’s super cultured, and I wanted to come back here for that reason,” Pena said. “Dean (Stiles) is just a funny old man, Coach Lyle is awesome, and Dom (Graziano) and (Jackson) Bolender — they’re really helping everyone and having a good time.”

Before making five starts and 12 appearances for the Drifters last summer, Pena played sparingly for College of the Sequoias in his freshman season and, as a sophomore, broke out to earn All-League honors as a starter for Fresno City College. The Drifters’ first-year coaching staff of Lyle and Stiles quickly recognized what Pena’s mentality and personality could do for his career and the team’s outlook.

“His personality is infectious. He keeps everybody light in the dugout, but when he gets on the mound, he's a different cat,” Stiles said. “He's gonna go after guys. He's not afraid to go after good hitters; he's not afraid to pitch in, and that carries over to a kid who has less experience, and they can see, ‘Oh, this is the way I need to be.’”

Pena landed at Cal State Monterey Bay for his junior season, where he split time between the rotation and the bullpen. The Otters typically entrusted Pena with 60-80 pitches at any point in a game, and he rewarded them with high peaks. 

In his Otters debut, Pena allowed just one runner to reach via a hit-by-pitch in three innings while striking out four batters. On March 15 against Cal State Dominguez Hills, he put in a career outing, holding the Toros to one run over 6.1 innings while striking out nine batters. 

Pena returned to Springfield with bright spots under his belt, but with room for improvement in his control — room he has almost entirely filled in.

“I think (my success) has just come from having trust in my stuff, calming down my nerves and letting everything go,” Pena said.

In 20.2 innings for the Drifters this summer, Pena has walked nine batters and struck out 30, compared to 28 walks and 36 strikeouts in 37.1 innings in the Spring. The run of success has shrunk his ERA from 6.27 as an Otter to 4.79 as a Drifter. 

This season, Pena has been typically slotted into a one-to-two-inning relief role, consistently working ahead of hitters with fastballs and cutters, and finishing punchouts with a changeup and curveball. 

The biggest change Stiles has observed is Pena’s conviction with the pitch mix as he’s racked up scoreless innings. 

“He's always been a confident kid. Sometimes confidence masks what we’re really thinking, but
now it's real,” Stiles said. “It's confidence in his pitches, it's confidence in his teammates, and Sonny is gonna be successful because he has fun, and he likes what he's doing”

Pena’s in-game success has allowed him to fully buy into coaching from familiar faces Stiles and Lyle, along with new assistant coaches Dom Graziano and Jackson Bolender.

“Honestly, it’s just making sure everything’s the same, playing catch the same way, and kinda just staying at a calm pace with something me and Dom talk about — taking your best breath.”

Although Pena’s best work has come in his current role, the breakthroughs behind that success apply to the numerous other roles he’s filled in his career.

“He’s the kind of kid you could put in at the beginning, middle or end of a game and pretty much know what you're going to get,” Stiles said. “Wherever he goes, he's going to be marketable because, ‘Hey, I've done this, I've done this and I've done this. Wherever you need me, I'll be ready.’”

Pena’s college career has been a long road to a still undetermined final destination, but along the way he’s developed into one of Springfield’s most reliable pitchers in 2026.

“Everywhere you go, you take the pieces that you enjoyed, and you cast off the other things, and all those different experiences will be melded into Sonny,” Stiles said. “For that reason, he’s gonna carry on and continue to do this, and I love it.”