The Cowlitz Black Bears will face the Springfield Drifters for the second time in two weeks this weekend at David Story Field. The Black Bears have won five of their last six games and will conclude their final regular season series against the Knights tonight at Goss Stadium in Corvallis.
The Black Bears struck first in the opener on June 14 against Springfield with two runs in the top of the second inning, but the Drifters responded in the bottom of the second with a solo home run and four walks that turned into four runs. The Black Bears made things interesting in the top of the ninth inning with three runs on four hits, yet fell 9-5 in the opener. The Black Bears opened the scoring again in game two with a run in the first inning, but just like the night before, the Drifters responded and took the lead in the bottom of the first with two runs on two hits. Springfield added runs in the fifth and seventh innings on their way to a 4-2 victory.
In the finale, the Drifters flipped the script and scored first with two runs in the bottom of the first inning, jumpstarted by a hit-by-pitch with one out, followed by two hits and two errors. The Black Bears countered with three hits that turned into three runs in the top of the second inning to give the Black Bears a 3-2 lead. The Black Bears added runs in the third, fourth, and seventh innings to lead 6-4. However, in the home half of the seventh inning, the Drifters’ Andy Miller dropped a bleeder into shallow left-center field to put Springfield on top 8-6, which ended up being the final score.
The Black Bears dropped two of three games at Portland but bounced back against the Pippins, taking three games at home and two of their first three games against the Knights, including sweeping a doubleheader over the Knights yesterday 4-2 and 2-0. Game one of Wednesday’s doubleheader was the makeup game from June 2, so the Black Bears were the home team on the Knights’ home turf. The Knights scored runs in the second and fourth innings against Black Bears’ starter Jack Tuttle (Northern Colorado), but once again the Cowlitz bullpen held the line with 3.1 scoreless innings from Kale Hammer (Gonzaga) and Virot Siharath (Iowa Western). The Cowlitz offense put on a two-out hitting clinic in the bottom of the fourth with back-to-back singles from Andy Allanson (Park Univ. Gilbert) and Bronson Neave (Arizona Western), followed by a walk and an RBI hit-by-pitch to set up a two-run single from Rowan Kelly (UC Santa Barbara) to put the Black Bears in front 3-2. The Black Bears added a run in the bottom of the fifth inning, and Siharath collected the save with a scoreless top of the seventh inning.
In game two yesterday, the Black Bears defeated the Knights 2-0. Tyler Schott (Dallas Baptist) made his first start of the summer and dominated in six shutout innings with four strikeouts. Yoni Castro worked through back-to-back walks to lock down the 2-0 win. The Black Bears and Knights will finish their series tonight at 6:35 p.m. PST.
Springfield is 5-5 in their last ten games following their five-game winning streak. The Drifters will play a decisive series finale against the Sweets in Walla Walla tonight at 6:35 p.m. PST.
The Drifters-Black Bears series will begin on Friday at 6:35 p.m. at David Story Field. Game 2 on Saturday is scheduled for 6:35 p.m., and the series finale will also begin at 1:05 p.m. on Sunday. For more information about upcoming games, stats, or tickets, follow us on social media: X (Twitter) (@CowlitzBBears), Facebook, and Instagram (@cowlitzblackbears). To watch, listen live, or view the 2024 promotional schedule, go to our website cowlitzblackbears.com.