SPRINGFIELD – In sports, home-field advantage is a well-known advantage.
Last Thursday night, this truism was on full display for the Springfield Drifters.
With a record-breaking crowd of more than 2,500 fans, Springfield had a chip on its shoulder against the Ridgefield Raptors.
The Raptors swept the Drifters last week in their first meeting of the season – but that was in Ridgefield. Back at Hamlin Sports Complex and that series still fresh on their minds, the Drifters wanted to return the favor.
“It goes back to the homefield advantage they have in Ridgefield. They play in a really small park,” Drifters coach Jeff Lyle said. “They were able to elevate some balls, they walked us off twice and then they beat us up pretty good in the middle game, but we took the walkoff loss in the last one very positively.
“In extra innings we played great. We did a lot of things right. In baseball, you can do everything right and still lose a game, still lose the battle, and that’s what we did. We decided that that was going to be the turning point,” he said.
Springfield won the first game of this series in dominant fashion, beating Ridgefield 6-1. Wednesday’s game was a closer call with the Raptors coming out swinging, taking a 3-1 lead early.
The Drifters were able to overcome this deficit and take Ridgefield to familiar territory, extra innings. In a series all about returning favors for Springfield, walking off Ridgefield in the 10th inning after the Raptors did the same thing to them twice in the week prior was the cherry on top.
Now up 2-0 in the series, Springfield had the opportunity to sweep Ridgefield – which would be their first sweep of the season. To add to the atmosphere, Thursday night was the Drifters’ July 3 celebration – in partnership with Team Springfield – with fireworks scheduled to light up the sky immediately after the game.
Fueled by the fans
The Drifters’ fireworks shows always draw big crowds, but this time felt different. With online tickets selling out the night before the game and a lengthy line outside the gate an hour and a half before the first pitch, there was no question this crowd was record-breaking.
“It means everything. Some of these kids come from big schools where they see this every day. Some of these kids come from schools where they don’t see this at all. But to see our guys rise to the occasion and not sink is a huge thing,” Lyle said. “We know big crowds can cave you in, or they can make you stick your chest out. I think we had a lot of guys stick their chest out and get big today.”
From the first inning, it was clear every Springfield Drifter was using the crowd as motivation, and it was working. While a run wasn’t scored until the top of the fourth, once that run was scored, they didn’t stop coming.
Entering the top of the sixth, the game was tied 4-4. Despite the Drifters quickly getting two outs, this was when the fireworks started for Ridgefield. The Raptors loaded the bases, which led to the Drifters walking in two runs before a deep ball into left field by Ridgefield led 3 more runs to put the Raptors up 9-4.
While the metaphorical fireworks show started with Ridgefield, singular bursts of fireworks began to explode across the city of Springfield as the Drifters walked onto the field to take the bottom of the sixth.
“As we’re banging the ball around and doing some things, some fireworks are going off in the background. You may have heard a few comments talking about how the fireworks started early with our hitters,” Lyle said.
For the remainder of the sixth inning, there were constant explosions. Whether they came from the fireworks in the sky, the cracks of the players’ bats, or the roar of the crowd, the atmosphere in Hamlin was electric. This led to the Drifters staging their improbable comeback in only one inning. Springfield scored six runs to take the lead in the bottom of the sixth, a lead they didn’t lose for the rest of the game.
“It’s something that has developed over getting punched in the face so many times so early. We had adversity early. We found every way we could to lose a game. And I think our guys just came together and decided enough is enough,” Lyle said.
Springfield finished with an 11-9 victory to complete the series sweep over Ridgefield. The Drifters’ fireworks show began mere moments after the final out, putting a bow on a historic night of Drifters baseball.
DRIFTERS DATA CENTER
Thursday, July 10
Drifters vs Yakima Valley, 6:35 p.m.
Friday, July 11
Drifters at Marion, 6:35 p.m.
Saturday, July 12
Drifters at Marion, 6:35 p.m.