Elks Suffer Gut Wrenching Loss to Springfield in Series Finale

Justin Tsukada lost a ball in the night sky that caused the Elks to lose the Springfield Drifters. (Andrew Green).

Springfield, OR. - The Bend Elks dropped the series finale 6-5 to the Springfield Drifters in gut-wrenching fashion.

With two outs, two runners on, and a one-run lead in the bottom of the 8th inning, Springfield’s Ryan Cooney lifted a towering fly ball to left field. Elks left fielder Justin Tsukada worked toward the foul line, paused, and threw his hands up, signaling that he lost the ball that would soon plop right behind him as two runs came across for the Drifters, who would go on to win the game.

Yet that wasn’t the only tough blow for a Bend squad that once led by three runs. In the fifth inning. Mahiro Tomita had a 3-2 count with two outs, but Unfortunately for the Elks, Joe Longo had other plans for Tomita’s payoff pitch, driving a two-run double in the left-center gap to make it a one-run ball game.

The Drifters, who finished with a series high 11 hits, knew it was going to be a different kind of night when Charlie Updegrave burned a solo shot to left on the first pitch he saw in response to a two-run homer by Beau Sylvester in the top half of that same third inning frame.

Outside of Sylvester’s two-run blast that stayed just inside the left field foul pole, Bend’s bats were cold, with just six hits on the night while striking out ten times. But still, even with the low hit and high strikeout total, the Elks found themselves with the lead late, thanks to each one of those hits coming at the right place and time.

Jake Hoskins and Steven Meier each had RBI doubles, while Trey Nelson made the most of his pinch-hit opportunity with a one-run single to right in the eighth to give the Elks the 5-4 advantage. No Bend batters finished with multiple hits.

Bend (10-9, 7-8) treads back home to Vince Genna Stadium, where the Elks will kick off the first of six straight games against the Ridgefield Raptors, who are now the new team on top of the West Coast League South. Game one is set for Friday at 6:35 p.m.