THE MONDAY HIVE: Bees’ Roster Complete As Season Approaches

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

The Burlington Bees’ roster is complete as the Prospect League season begins next week.

The roster includes three players with local connections — pitcher Jacob Zahner of Burlington (Southeastern Community College), pitcher Cauy Massner of Mediapolis (Iowa Wesleyan) and infielder Kooper Schulte of New London (Central Arizona College).

Zahner and infielder Caleb Wulf are the two SCC players on the team.

Nine NCAA Division I players are on the roster, including Iowa outfielders Will Mulflur and Coy Sarsfield.

Massner is one of six Bees back from last season, joining infielder Brandon Bickford, outfielder Cedric Dunnwald, infielder Jayden Hackbarth, pitcher Adrian Nery, and pitcher/outfielder Nick Tampa.

Owen Oreskovich returns for his second season as the Bees’ manager. Jack Gray and Nathan Robertson are coaches.

The Bees open the season May 31 at home against the Quincy Gems.

A look at the roster:

PITCHERS (14)

Ryan Donley (LHP, Oakland University) — Hasn’t pitched this season

Jeremy Fox (RHP, Morton College) — 6-5, 3.04 ERA in 14 appearances. 78 strikeouts in 63 innings.

Luke Fredrick (LHP, Clarke University) — 0-0, 3.00 ERA in 3 appearances

Chase Golden (RHP, Western Illinois) — 0-1, 12.54 ERA in 23 appearances, 13 strikeouts in 18 2/3 innings.

Dylan Haslett (RHP, Oakland University) — 0-0, 13.03 ERA. Opponents hit .212.

Jake Jakubowski (RHP, Heartland Community College) — 1-0, 4.57 ERA in 17 appearances. 24 strikeouts in 21 ⅔ innings.

Preston Kaufman (RHP, Benedictine University) — Hasn’t pitched this season.

Drew Martin (RHP, Heartland Community College) — 0-0, 5.23 ERA in 11 appearances, with 16 strikeouts in 10 ⅓ innings.

Cauy Massner (RHP, Iowa Wesleyan) — 0-4, 9.07 ERA with Bees last season.

Rem Maxwell (RHP, Georgia Southern) — Hasn’t pitched this season.

Aiden McGee (RHP, Minnesota State-Mankato) — 2-0, 5.33 ERA, 31 strikeouts in 25 1/3 innings

Adrian Nery (RHP, Union College) — 1-3, 8.76 ERA with Bees last season.

Jaden Siemer (RHP, Hanover College) — 0-4, 11.81 ERA, 23 strikeouts in 21 ⅓ innings.

Nick Tampa (LHP, Morton College) — 9.28 ERA in 4 appearances. Also plays the outfield, and is hitting .284 with 6 HRs. Hit .205 with the Bees last season, and pitched in 14 games.

Jacob Zahner (RHP, Southeastern Community College) — Hasn’t pitched this season.

CATCHERS (3)

Jackson Fisher (Illinois-Chicago) —  .083 in 14 games

Mason Schwalbach (McHenry County College) — .412, 22 HRs, 88 RBIs

Ian Wolski (Hawaii Pacific) — .357, 1 HR, 16 RBIs

INFIELDERS (7)

Brandon Bickford (Mount Mercy) — .250 with 2 HRs. Hit .250 with the Bees last season.

Drew Gaskins (Oakland University) — Incoming freshman

Jaden Hackbarth (McHenry County College) — .370, 4 HRs, 48 RBIs. Hit .247 with the Bees last season.

Connor Laeng (Concordia-Irvine) — .600 in 6 games.

Kooper Schulte (Central Arizona College) — .242 in 33 games.

Keanu Spencer (Scottsdale Community College) — .301 with 3 home runs and 25 RBIs.

Caleb Wulf (Southeastern Community College) — .386, 52 RBIs in 61 games.

OUTFIELDERS (5)

Cedric Dunnwald (Mount Mercy) — Hit .200 in three games with the Bees last season.

Tanner Holland (Central Arizona College) — Redshirted this season.

Will Mulflur (Iowa) — .167 in 11 games. Battled lower back injury early in the season. Will join the team for the second half of the season.

Trenton Rice (Oakland University) — Incoming freshman.

Coy Sarsfield (Iowa) — .176 in 16 games

Photo: Pitcher/outfielder Nick Tampa is back for his second season with the Burlington Bees. (Steve Cirinna/Burlington Bees)