By Steve Mims

Nate Stevens arrived in Lane County to play for the Springfield Drifters this summer with some good memories of the area. The Washington State catcher helped the Cougars take two out of three games in April against Oregon, which was ranked No. 10 at the time. Those wins – coming after WSU blew a seven-run lead in losing the series opener – propelled the Cougars to finish with 13 wins in their final 17 games to wrap up at 27-26.
“It hurt the way we lost that one game, but taking two of three against Oregon was real big for us,” Stevens recalled. “It helped us turn the season around.”
Stevens was a sophomore who played in nine games last season for WSU.
The Wisconsin native originally signed with Arkansas out of high school before spending two years at Johnson County Community College in Kansas. He spent the past two summers playing in the Northwoods League. Last summer, he played for the St. Cloud Rox and manager David Bellamy, a Sheldon High graduate. Bellamy is an assistant coach at WSU where he reunited with Stevens.
“I had a great experience at Washington State,” Stevens said. “There is a great coaching staff there and everyone treats you like family. They want you to be as good as you can be and that is a huge reason why I chose to go there.”
Stevens is batting .200 with four doubles and five RBIs in 12 games this season for Springfield, which returns home Tuesday and Thursday this week to host the Corvallis Knights.
“I love summer ball,” Stevens said. “It is a lot of fun because you are with these guys all day, just traveling and playing baseball.”
Stevens is hoping his summer in Springfield leads to more playing time as a junior with the Cougars.
“I didn’t get a lot of playing time at WSU, so I want to come out and show what I can do and hope to have a chance at a bigger role next year,” he said.