SPRINGFIELD — The first full weekend of college baseball is in the books. In 2026, 92 former and current Drifters are rostered at 52 colleges across all levels of college baseball (NCAA DI, DII & DIII; NAIA & NWAC). This includes 51 NCAA D1 baseball players at 28 institutions.   

During Oregon’s 6-2 opening-day win over George Mason on Friday, a former Drifter hit party broke out during the second inning. Jack Brooks (2025) and Ryan Cooney (2023) each singled on bunts before Dominic Hellman (2022) smashed his first home run of the season, scoring all three Drifters alum. Each player finished the weekend strong for the Ducks. Helman finished 5-15 (.333) with the home run, four RBI’s and 5 runs scored. Cooney also hit a home run over the weekend and finished his first series going 8-18 (.444) with two doubles, six RBI’s, four runs and three steals. Brooks, who got the start in centerfield for the Ducks this weekend, scored 7 runs from the 9-spot while going 5-12 (.417) at the plate with two steals and a triple.

Matthew Tacheny and Kaden Harris, who will both return to Springfield in 2026 after pitching for the Drifters last summer, impressed over the weekend. Tacheny, a junior at Linfield, tossed five innings of one-run baseball against Eastern Oregon in his first start as the Wildcats’ ace. Harris picked up his first win at Mount Marty University, hurling five innings and striking out four against Hesston College. 

Future Drifter Kota Watanabe also picked up his first win of the weekend. The right-hander from Japan struck out six batters over 6 innings in a 7-4 win for Coalinga College over Hartnell. 

Several Drifters alums also put up strong performances on the mound over the weekend. Austin Wolfe (2023) struck out nine batters over seven scoreless, one-hit innings for Bushnell in a 9-1 win for the NAIA Beacons over NCAA DII’s Saint Martin’s. Wolfe was named the Cascade Collegiate Conference Pitcher of the Week on Monday to become the second Drifters alum to win CCC honors after Chase Nye (2024 & 2025) won Player of the Week honors a week ago. Diego Chavez (2022 & 2025) was near perfect for William Jessup as he only allowed four walks across six scoreless, no-hit innings for the Warriors while striking out four against Vanguard Friday. Trey Newmann (2023), who transferred to Portland this spring after spending last season at TCU, impressed in his Pilots debut, striking out six across 3.2 innings of scoreless baseball versus Purdue. 

Michael Klein, the Drifters leader in innings pitched in 2025, pitched another two scoreless innings for Rogers State University in Oklahoma. The southpaw is now 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA and 8 strikeouts across 3 outings and 8.1 innings. 

At the plate, Drifters alum Jaxon Kister (2025), Cesar Chavez (2025) and Dylan Carson (2024-2025) all stood out for their respective squads. Kister, an outfielder at Linfield, was the Wildcats’ best player offensively over the weekend, finishing 7-12 (.583) with two doubles, one home run, seven runs, five RBI’s and four steals in a sweep of Eastern Oregon. Chavez, who performed well in his opening weekend for Cal State Los Angeles, continued to find success at the plate. The junior outfielder hit his first career home run and finished with 6 RBI’s during a 6-15 weekend. Carson, a local product from Churchill High School and Bushnell, slugged two home runs and had a double with 5 RBI’s during a 5-13 weekend at the plate against Saint Martins. 

Nick Gimino (2025), who we highlighted last week, continued his hot start with Oregon Tech, going 6-15 with a home run, four RBI’s and four runs scored versus The Masters. Gimino is now hitting .459 with 11 RBI’s, two doubles and one home run across nine starts for the Owls. The Corvallis native also has hits in all 10 games that he has played in and three multi-hit performances, including a 3-3 outing on Sunday.

Local product Nolan Miller, a Sheldon High School graduate who spent the last two summers in Springfield, had a solid weekend at the plate for the Portland Pilots against Big-10 opponent Purdue. The first basemen went 4-10 with four RBI’s and hit his first career home run in the series finale. His four RBI’s this weekend matched his season total from his freshman campaign in 2025. 

Incoming Drifters Karsten Hansen (Lower Columbia), Diego Vasquez (Fullerton College/Oregon State) and Peyton Tyner (Lane CC) also performed well at the plate. Hansen started his sophomore campaign going 5-7 with 3 RBI’s for the Red Devils against Clackamas College. Vasquez racked up 6 RBI’s across three games while finishing 4-10 at the dish with a double and triple for Fullerton. Tyner, a Marist High School grad, hit in the three spot for the Lane Titans over the weekend, going 6-17 (.353) with three RBI’s and two doubles. 

You can view the full list of Drifters alumni currently playing college baseball on the alumni and records page here.

The Springfield Drifters begin their fifth season of West Coast League baseball on May 29, with their first home game scheduled for June 2. You can view the full schedule here. Season tickets are now on sale at driftersbaseball.com with single-game tickets available beginning April 2.