Jeff Lyle expects to have a hungry group of hitters with the Springfield Drifters.

The Drifters will feature a lot of college players in the lineup who have spent most of the spring either redshirting or sitting behind veteran players on the depth chart.

Middle infielder Cooper Mullens, a Marist High graduate, will spend a third summer with the Drifters after sitting out a redshirt season at Michigan. He brings shortstop Joonsung Park with him after he played four games for the Wolverines, including one against Villanova when he hit a pinch-hit grand slam.
Second baseman Austin Matranga has played just two games at Grand Canyon University while infielder Sam Weber has appeared in seven games for Lewis-Clark State. Bryant Starr is a shortstop at Linn-Benton Community College while Logan Honma arrives from Hawaii as he prepares to begin his college career next season at USC.

“Our infielders will be really young without much college experience, but that could be good,” said Lyle, who is set to begin his first summer as coach of the Drifters when they open the season against Walla Walla on May 30th at Hamlin Sports Complex, the first of eight straight home games to begin the season. “I see it as an indication they will be hungry to play. Sometimes in the summer, guys are worn out or don’t want to play because they already played so much in the college season, but I don’t think we will run into that problem. We are trying to have our roster lighter on the position side so that guys get a lot of at-bats, especially with this group because what they need is some timing at the plate if they have not had live at-bats.”

Lyle has some multi-position options around the infield.

“Starr is a special young kid who can get on the field at some position every day,” Lyle said. “He can run well and he’s a good defender, he does the little things well and his versatility is special. Weber played a few innings at shortstop for Lewis-Clark State, but he played in the outfield quite a bit last year for the Drifters. Matranga can play everywhere in the infield and Mullens played second and third last summer and Honma can do that as well. What I like about our position players is the versatility.”

Catcher is another position where the Drifters will have a few candidates looking for at-bats, including Kaden Schuck, who is sitting out a redshirt season at UNLV after transferring from the College of Southern Idaho.

Caden Young hit two homers in nine games at Fordham before suffering a broken hand. Isaiah Ibarra is a California kid who has signed with USC and will join the Drifters after finishing his senior year of high school.

“With catchers, it is tough to get a complete package, but I think we have a complete package as a group,” Lyle said. “I think Caden will be special for us offensively and he can catch and throw. Schuck is a strong defensive catcher, and Ibarra may be the most well-rounded, but he’s also the youngest and has not had to run a college staff or do the things that will be expected of him here. We are going to do a lot of things with those guys to prepare them for games. We will run it pro-style with early work and development and then let them go play the games. We want our catchers to run our pitching staff and call pitches with some suggestions.”

Ibarra and Honma will be teammates again next year with the Trojans.

“Logan can play all over the infield and is one of the top prospects in Hawaii,” Lyle said. “He has some YouTube videos that are amazing, I fell in love with the kid. I speak with Isaiah on the phone, and he is one of the most well-spoken high school kids I have ever talked to and an unbelievable catcher at that age. I am excited to see how they are when they get away from home for the first time.”

Nolan Miller will be returning home to play in Springfield for the second summer in a row. The Sheldon graduate has played in 16 games, including nine starts, for the University of Portland as a true freshman.

“Nolan is going to be a two-way player so you will see him in the outfield, at first base, on the mound, and hitting in the middle of the order,” Lyle said. “I am super excited for him. He has not pitched for Portland, but they want him to, so he will be another left-handed arm that contributes.”

Miller will be joined in the outfield by Demetriz Lewis Jr., who is sitting out a redshirt freshman season at UNLV, and Caden Richardson, a sophomore at Linn-Benton Community College.

“We don’t get to do a lot of technical coaching as far as changing swings because we are borrowing guys, but we want guys that we can teach baseball to and help them develop in ways that doesn’t always happen in the spring when schools concentrate on winning,” Lyle said. “We want to create a family, guys who are like-minded about the culture we have. Everyone on the roster, we have a close connection to their college coaching staff, and they were recommended to us. A lot of times, the first thing the coaches talk about is how great of a kid they are before even mentioning them as a baseball player and that stood out to me.”